Rokka No Yuusha v5 Ch1,2

8/16/2019 Rokka No Yuusha v5 Ch1,2

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Chapter Two: Part One

Somehow… it looks like she survived.

There was a single Kyoma in the labyrinth, and his body was metamorphosing.His skin changed to the same color and pattern as the fagstone beneath him and

he fattened down to the foor like a carpet. Then in that new orm he quietly slidacross the ground.

He had the ability to camoufage himsel . He wasn’t able to completely makehimsel disappear like Dark pecialist !umber "#, so i someone was nearby andlooked closely they would probably be able to see through his camoufage easily.

Howe$er, %ora, who at the moment was using her second sight to look throughthe temple, still hadn’t noticed him. The Temple &abyrinth was $ast and it wasimpossible e$en or her to know e$ery inch o it.

'hen he remo$ed his camoufage he would re$ert to the appearance o a white

li(ard. He was the Kyoma who had issued orders to the others in order to lure)dlet into a trap and on the way to the temple he had re$erted back to his base

orm, appearing in ront o *remy and )dlet in the process.

The Kyoma went by the name o Dark pecialist !umber + . He was one o theKyoma whose abilities Tgurneu deemed acceptable enough to warrant beingbestowed with a number. Tgurneu appro$ed o his clandestine skills and hisability to gather in ormation, but what Tgurneu acknowledged abo$e all else washis intelligence. He didn’t -ust ollow Tgurneu’s orders unconditionally he thought

or himsel and was able to take actions that he belie$ed would ul/ll Tgurneu’sob-ecti$es. 'hile many Kyoma were terrible at such independent thinking, he

e0celled at it.Shit… Am I the only one who survived?

1 all the Kyoma that had been le t to protect the Temple, e$eryone e0cept or!umber + had been wiped out. The Kyoma that had originally taken commandordered e$eryone to sacri/ce themsel$es in a charge against the enemy, anda ter that Kyoma ell !umber + took command.

He deployed the Kyoma, set the trap, and tried to stop the i0 *lowers. He hade$en been able to go so ar as to seriously in-ure )dlet. Howe$er, in the end ithad been useless.

He abandoned his ollowers and ran away by himsel . )nd, he was orced towatch as all o the Kyoma around the temple were wiped out while he used hiscamoufage ability to slip past %ora’s watch. He then snuck into the templethrough the cracks in the door be ore the *lowers had arri$ed and he had beenhiding e$er since.

2There are a number o ways to stop it. *irst o all, -ust like with the other aint3nstruments, we can stop the person who acti$ated it /rst. 'e would need to killthem 3 e$en said that when we were dealing with the 3llusion *og 4arrier. ) terthat person was killed then we would need to break the aint 3nstrument itsel .Howe$er, there is also something a bit troubling about this idea.5

)s he clung to the foor, !umber + could hear the i0 *lowers’ con$ersation.


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!umber + had another ability besides his camoufage. His entire body was alistening apparatus and so he could hear se$eral hundred times better thanhumans. 3 they spoke in their normal $oice anywhere within the labyrinth, hewould ha$e no di6culty picking up e$erything they said.

2!umber + 7. what are the i0 *lowers doing85 said a tiny $oice beside him. 3tbelonged to another Kyoma.

He was Dark pecialist !umber 9:, his superior in rank. )pparently he hadrecei$ed in ormation hal a day ago that the i0 *lowers were nearing the temple,and so he came here. Howe$er, he didn’t come to pro$ide backup in the /ght, hehad -ust been waiting inside.

2;ust as we talked about earlier. !othing has changed. They ha$e gathered inront o the room at the center o the labyrinth and are in$estigating what is

there. They are talking about the aint o the ingle *lower, the 4lack 4arren*lower, and Tgurneu’s ultimate weapon.5

2The 4lack 4arren *lower7.what in the world is that8 3’$e ne$er heard o itbe ore.5 The two Kyoma were talking so quietly that %ora wouldn’t be able todetect their con$ersation.

They had been ordered by Tgurneu to protect this temple that was all. Theydidn’t know who the se$enth was. )nd though the topic sometimes entered the

i0 *lowers’ con$ersation, the two Kyoma had no idea what the 4lack 4arren*lower was. 3n act, they only knew that the aint o the ingle *lower was in thetemple because o what they heard rom the i0 *lowers earlier.

Tgurneu was e0tremely secreti$e. He didn’t con$ey anything other than the most

limited o in ormation to his Kyoma subordinates. )ll he needed was or them toollow his orders the Kyoma weren’t permitted to think about the logic ormeaning behind them. That was Tgurneu’s policy.


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to understand the human heart. )nd you are the only one o my ollowers whom 3can trust with this.5

Tgurneu guided him to a small ca$e where Dark pecialist !umber # was li$ing. 3’d like you to raise this child to be a strong Kyoma. ?aiseher to the point where within twenty years she could /ght against me by hersel .5

That’s im ossible , !umber + thought, but didn’t say. 3 Tgurneu ordered it then itwas possible.

2The other order is> 3’d like you to make her hate the Kyoma when she has ully

come o age.4ut -ust simple hatred isn’t enough. 3 need her to hate the Kyoma so much thate$en at the risk o losing her li e she would still eel the need to kill them. That isthe le$el o hatred you must oster within her.5

The order stated !umber + had to raise the child to be the strongest Kyomaamong Tgurneu’s subordinates and then he had to make that child hate theKyoma. 3t was di6cult to understand to reasoning behind such an order, howe$er!umber + didn’t ask any questions back.

2The truth is 3 had planned on ha$ing !umber # o$er there carry out these

orders. 4ut she has gotten strange. 3 was the one who ordered her to lo$e thischild, but !umber # has grown to lo$e the child too much. 3t’s to the point whereshe has orgotten about my orders or e$en her loyalty to the %a-in.5

Tgurneu sighed. Then *remy, who was on the bed, looked at !umber + crawlingon the foor and began to laugh. Tgurneu gently picked up the baby and rockedher.

2'ell, what will you do i 3 gi$e you these orders8 How will you make this childstrong and how will you make her hate the Kyoma85

taring at Tgurneu rocking the baby, !umber + thought quietly or a moment.

He had also participated in the task o controlling the human cattle so he alsounderstood their mentality.


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2*irst o all, 3 will make this child lo$e the Kyoma. Then 3’ll make her work hard tobecome strong or the bene/t o the Kyoma. Then 3 will brutally betray her. )nda ter that she will ha$e no choice but to detest the Kyoma.5

Tgurneu clapped his hands in -oy.

2?ight, that’s it. 3 ha$e been searching or a Kyoma who could gi$e me such ananswer @ it’s the e0act same strategy that 3 had thought o .5

Tgurneu made a cruel smile and e$en !umber + , who had pledged his loyalty tohim, trembled in ear.

2Aou can do it right85

!umber + nodded.

=

)round the time he recei$ed that responsibility, the Kyoma was gi$en the nameand number o a Dark pecialist. ) ter that when *remy was not present he wascalled !umber + .

!umber + was gi$en two subordinates. They both possessed the same kind ocle$erness and linguistic ability as !umber + did. Howe$er, only !umber + wasthe one who issued orders. 1ne Kyoma was a red ant and the other went by thename o the Biercing 4ird. The three o them had the duty o acting as *remy’s

amily and they were to pretend to lo$e her.

)s or !umber #, who should ha$e been discarded as unnecessary, !umber +requested that she be spared and his request was granted @ he had been gi$enthat le$el o authority. Then !umber + took in !umber # as hissubordinate. !ven a "yoma that truly loved Fremy# instead of $ust retending to#could be im ortant , he thought.

) ter that another Kyoma, the dog that had been gi$en by Tgurneu, started to li$ewith *remy. 'hen she was an in ant laying her giant dog on the ground, buryingher head in its stomach and rolling around was her a$orite way o ha$ing un.

The our Kyoma raised *remy in a ca$e in the corner o the 'ailing Demon Territory. Cntil she learned how to talk, they helped her in the same way thathumans would. 4ack then *remy had been a noisy child and she was alwayslaughing. )nd rom what they read in the books on child rearing they’d procured

rom the human world she was somehow more li$ely than an ordinary humanchild.

The our Kyoma enthusiastically raised *remy, but whereas !umber + and histwo subordinates elt like $omiting rom the repulsi$e work, raising *remyseemed to genuinely make !umber i0 happy.

Then *remy turned three and !umber + ’s work began.

=

The /rst thing he ga$e her was ear.

He took *remy out o the ca$e and introduced her to the other Kyoma. 'hen theothers /rst saw *remy they elt like killing and eating her. They would shout with


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hatred and look at her with drool streaming rom their open mouths. %eanwhile,!umber + would watch all o this rom the shadows, hidden rom sight.

)nd though at /rst *remy had thought that they would play with her, soon shereali(ed the reality.


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2 o then why was 3 born looking like a human85

2%aster Tgurneu ordered so.5

24ut the other Kyoma still hate me. %aster Tgurneu is cruel. 'hy won’t he telle$eryone to like me85

'hen *remy asked that !umber + slapped her across the ace.

2%aster Tgurneu is preparing or the /ght with the i0 *lowers. He is /ghting toannihilate the humans. %aster Tgurneu does not li$e or you. Aou e0ist or %aster

Tgurneu.5

24ut,5 *remy said, 2


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%eanwhile, Tgurneu made the human sla$es build a Temple o Eunpowder. )ndwhen the temple needed to choose a new aint, *remy was success ully chosenat the age o 9". Berhaps *remy was the only aint o Eunpowder in all o history.

23 will become strong. 3 will become stronger than e$eryone and 3’ll beat them all.3 will ne$er let them hurt any o you e$er again,5 *remy said and gripped her gun.

=

Berhaps as a aint *remy’s talents were nothing special, and as a Kyoma herphysical strength was close to the lowest o all. Howe$er, *remy wanted totriumph o$er the other Kyoma, protect her amily, and to that end she stro$e tobecome stronger with e$ery ounce o her willpower. 3 she had been accepted bythe Kyoma then she would ha$e been raised as an a$erage Kyoma and wouldprobably not ha$e become anything other than a aint with ordinary strength.

The reason she was able to become strong was thanks to both her hatred and herlo$e.

4e ore long *remy co$ertly entered the human world and started to kill i0*lowers candidates. )sley the aint o 3ce and %atra the e0pert archer shehunted those that would probably pose a signi/cant threat i le t ali$e.

oon, there were e$en those among the Kyoma that began to recogni(e herachie$ements. 1pinions like> Fremy was a legitimate "yoma# the "yoma that hadtried to e%clude her had been mistaken# and &aster Tgurneu’s keen insight tobirth her wasn’t sus icious# started to circulate among the Kyoma.

4ut that was slightly troubling because *remy didn’t hate the Kyoma and that hadbeen !umber + ’s most important task.


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=


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it went completely blank. 3t was the ace o someone who hadlost all emotion.

The Kyoma attacked *remy. Though they had been strictly ordered not to kill her,not a word had been said about not hurting her. o !umber + and the otherstortured *remy’s body to their heart’s content.


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)dlet elt the same as %ora. )ow does she know? he wondered.

*or a moment he thought that Hans or ?olonia had told her, but they looked -ustas shocked as him by *remy’s sudden declaration.

2 ince we all gathered together 3 ha$e been thinking about saying that, but it

would ha$e been twice as di6cult to e0plain why earlier,5 *remy readilyanswered.

2Aou said that you are the 4lack 4arren *lower85 %ora asked.

2%y body itsel might be the 4lack 4arren *lower, or it might ha$e been insertedsomewhere in my body and a part o me is harboring it. 3 can’t decide which iscorrect, but 3 know 3’m de/nitely connected to the 4lack 4arren *lower.5

23s that a con ession8 Ha$e you known about the 4lack 4arren *lower all thistime85

*remy shook her head. 2!o. Cntil Do((u mentioned it, the phrase I4lack 4arren*lower’ wasn’t e$en in the recesses o my memory, and 3 didn’t know about the

unction o the aint 3nstrument until 3 analy(ed the acred 'riting here.5

2 o then why do you think you’re connected to it85 %ora pressed.

23 think 3 remember coming to this place once.5

23 don’t get it, what are you talking about85 )dlet asked.

*remy shot a quick glance at )dlet be ore continuing.

2 ince my e0planation wasn’t enough or all o you, 3’ll add this> when a aint

3nstrument is created the $essel that will become the aint 3nstrument mustcome into contact with the ritual’s sacred writing. The ritual to make the 4lack4arren *lower was split into more than two parts, but the core o the ritual iswritten here, so the $essel that would become the 4lack 4arren *lower absolutelymust touch this sacred writing once.5

2 o what8 The act that a aint 3nstrument needs to touch the sacred writingdoesn’t need e0plaining, right85 %ora said.

27 orry. 3 don’t know until it was -ust e0plained to me,5 )dlet replied.

2The /rst time 3 entered this place 3 elt a sense o De-aFJu. )t /rst 3 had thought

it was my mind playing tricks on me, but while 3 was looking at the aint o a*lower my memories came back to me bit by bit. They are nothing but $aguememories, but 3 ha$e seen the aint o a *lower as she appears now up closebe ore.5

2Howe$er, e$en i you say that you’$e seen her be ore that isn’t enough toconclude that you are the 4lack 4arren *lower,5 )dlet countered back.

2Tgurneu concealed the e0istence o the Temple o *ate. 3 hadn’t e$en heard arumor o this place. o why was it necessary to bring someone like me here8 'hydid they show me inside and why did they bring me close to the aint o a*lower85

)dlet had no response.


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2'e still ha$en’t determined what the 4lack 4arren *lower does, but to me itseems like the most /tting theory is to think o me as the 4lack 4arren *lower.5

2'ait. %ora, be ore we get ahead o oursel$es, is there e$en a way to turnhumans or Kyoma into aint 3nstruments85 )dlet asked.

27There is. 1$er years ago, one aint published a way to turn humans intoaint 3nstruments, but the human died so all the documents detailing how to

create such a aint 3nstrument were destroyed and the aint responsible wase0ecuted. There shouldn’t be any place on this planet where that method is stillknown75

2'hy did the person turned into a aint 3nstrument die85

23 don’t know. 3t isn’t written in the records.5

There’s no longer any room for doubt that Fremy is the *lack *arren Flower ,)dlet thought. ?aina’s words had been con/rmed and the chance o there being

another girl with white hair and a horn on her head were almost nil.2%eow. 3 guess it’s alright now i we re$eal e$erything, meow,5 Hans said.


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)dlet elt a bit relie$ed. He’d been a little suspicious o *remy, but *remy had toldthem about her memories and restored his con/dence.

*remy hadn’t planned on killing the Heroes o the i0 *lowers. he didn’t knowthat she was the 4lack 4arren *lower.

+ood# I don’t have to doubt someone who means so much to me.o )dlet decided what his ne0t course o action would be> he would search or a

way to stop the 4lack 4arren *lower without *remy ha$ing to die.

23’$e had doubts all this time,5 *remy said.

2'hat about, meow85

2'hy am 3 ali$e8 3 Tgurneu had really intended on killing me then he wouldne$er ha$e le t me slip away in the /rst place. 3t would ha$e been best or him tocrush my core while 3 was sleeping, or slip poison into my meals, or he couldha$e -ust stabbed me in the back without saying a word.5

2Aet Tgurneu speci/cally decided to e0plain why he was throwing me away andtell me how all the lo$e e$eryone had elt or me had been a lie. Then he tried tokill me but none o that was necessary i he had -ust wanted me dead.5

*remy’s $oice was quiet, but )dlet could pick up the sadness in her tone. Thedespair she elt was deep, so deep that she couldn’t e$en cry.

2This was all Tgurneu’s plan. )s he had anticipated, 3 hate the Kyoma and the%a-in. )s he had anticipated, 3 met up with the i0 *lowers. )nd as he hadanticipated, with the power o the 4lack 4arren *lower 3 was about to kill the i0*lowers.5

23’m disgusted with how stupid 3 was.5

*or a long time the group was silent. ?olonia, %ora, and Eoldo all seemed to besympathi(ing with *remy, and Do((u and !ashetania looked to be eeling thesame way. Howe$er, Ghamo had eyes o suspicion trained right onto *remy.

Then )dlet saw Hans quietly reach his hand down towards his sword.

2


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274ut,5 Eoldo started. 2


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23t doesn’t seem like so straight orward a problem to me. 'hat will happen a terthe 4lack 4arren *lower dies8 To me it seems like Ghamo and Eoldo are takingthat unknown ar too lightly,5 )dlet said.

2)s long as the 4lack 4arren *lower7 *remy li$es we are de/nitely in danger, but3’m wondering i killing her would also lead to danger. 'hoe$er was in this templeand le t that in ormation or us wanted to warn us o that.5

)dlet looked at the aces o his companions. They were trying to see through hise0pression and determine whether or not they were being tricked. ?olonia didn’tseem to ha$e any suspicions towards )dlet. Eoldo , %ora, and Ghamo seemed tobe con used, but they weren’t looking at )dlet with suspicion. )nd Hans waspacing about scratching his head.

)s or *remy, she stared at him with her usual cold stare. Howe$er, he couldn’t/gure out what emotion was hiding behind that ga(e.

2The reason 3 hid this is because i 3 had talked about it earlier we would ha$e hadto address the message and the truth about *remy’s identity at the same time. 3called to %ora and asked her to analy(e the room, but she couldn’t so 3 kept it tomysel .5

2'ait a second,5 %ora said as she closed her eyes and began to use her secondsight. 2The room that you spoke about where you ound the Kyoma corpses isabout / teen meters abo$e us and / ty meters to the east.5

23 don’t know where it is e0actly, but 3 think that’s about right.5

24ased on what you’$e told us, those words were probably cast by the light o thelight gems. There aren’t any other aint 3nstruments and 3 can’t sense the powero any Kyoma. 'hat kind o -ewel was it that produced that message85

23 said 3 ha$e no idea.5

*or a while %ora continued to use her second sight.

23’m looking or traces o aint 3nstruments and the light rom the gems, but 3can’t /nd anything out o the ordinary7.'here did you see the writing come

rom85

%ora craned her neck to the side in con usion. he seemed to be growingsuspicious.

23 you don’t know7 then it’s impossible or me to,5 )dlet said.

23 don’t think it’s strange that 3 can’t /nd the origin o the words. The person whole t behind the message must ha$e done so in a way that the humans whoweren’t *lowers or one o the Kyoma couldn’t /nd it, and the creator must ha$edesigned the message so it would disappear soon a ter re$ealing itsel ,5 said%ora be ore concluding, 23 would think it was strange i 3 were able to /nd theorigin o where such a message came rom easily.5

It’s better if my secret is vague , )dlet thought. It’s better not to say e%actly fromwhere I got the information. 3 he poorly con/ned himsel within a lie then there

would be a high chance o the truth being ound out.


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3t wasn’t necessary to completely decei$e them as long as they didn’t /gure outthat he was lying then it was alright. The purpose o the lie was to induce theminto thinking IKilling *remy might be dangerous’. 3 the lie could -ust make themthink that then it had done its -ob.

2


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)dlet couldn’t see Hans, but he had the eeling that Hans was smiling.

2'hat the hell are you talking about8 3’m not lying.5

2Aou are, though. 3 know because during the in$estigation 3 was tailing you,meow.5

27'hat did you say85

That was im ossible. )e hadn’t sensed anyone following him at all. (hy is helying all of a sudden? )dlet wondered and then looked to %ora.

Ha$ing used here second sight to look o$er the entire temple, she should ha$eunderstood that Hans was lying.

Howe$er, une0pectedly she said, 2Hans. 3 had thought what you were doing wasstrange7 3 didn’t know why you ollowed )dlet.5

)ad he really followed me? It seems sus icious that he could do so without meeven noticing him at all.

23 saw you enter the storeroom or the Kyoma corpses and at that time 3 couldn’tsee any kind o light or anything. )nd a ter you le t the room 3 tried going in a teryou, but no writing in light appeared at my eet.5

2%aybe you -ust weren’t able to see it.5

2Cmeow. %y eyes were wide open. Ei$e up, )dlet. Aour lie has already beene0posed.5

2'hy were you ollowing me85 )dlet asked.

Hans smiled. 23 said to %ora, let’s let )dlet go ree. 3 want to see what the enemydoes. There are signs that the enemy is going a ter )dlet, so 3 will ollow a ter)dlet and see what happens.5

24ut my real intentions were di erent. 3 was really watching you.5

The others surrounding )dlet and Hans didn’t make a mo$e. There was noopening to stop Hans and there was a real threat that he would not hesitate to kill)dlet.

2Do you want to know why8 3 ha$e suspected you all along. 3 wondered i youwould try to let *remy run away either because you were swayed by emotion orsome other reason. )nd to accomplish that 3 /gured you were plotting some kindo monkey business.5

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2There weren’t any signs that you had done anything, so 3 thought that 3 was othe mark. Howe$er, 3 didn’t think you would lie like this. 3t was a good thing 3

ollowed you.5

He hadn’t noticed. *remy wasn’t the only person Hans was watching to see howthey would act. 'hen )dlet said that they would hide the in ormation about*remy Hans had agreed strangely quickly. That wasn’t because he had belie$ed)dlet it was because he was suspicious o him.


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2Blease calm down, HansFsan. *or starters, please lower your sword,5 ?olonia saidas she gripped her whip.

2'hy8 3’m -ust scolding the brat a little bit or decei$ing all o you.5

2He’s not necessarily lying. Aou simply might not ha$e been able to see the light.

o or the time being please step away rom )dFkun.52Do you think my eyes are that bad8 1r could it be that you think 3’m lying.5

This time e$en ?olonia’s rebuttal was in $ain. Ghamo, Eoldo , Do((u, and!ashetania were all looking at )dlet suspiciously. Decei$ing them was becomingmore and more hopeless by the second.

2'ait or a little while. &et me check the place )dlet talked about,5 %ora said andturned to the side.

he then sprinted rom the room as quickly as possible. )nd since the task wassomething %ora couldn’t do on her own, Ghamo ollowed behind her.

2Cmeow. )dlet. Ei$e in already. That is your best option,5 Hans said.

Howe$er there was no way )dlet was going to acquiesce. 3 they /gured out hewas lying then *remy would be killed on the spot.

(ould I be able to handle letting them kill Fremy here# des ite the fact that shewas one of their recious com anions and the fact that there was a way to

rotect her? -an I deal with losing the only girl I’ve ever loved?

'ith Hans’ blade still on the back o his neck, )dlet waited. )nd a ter about/ teen minutes %ora and Ghamo returned.

2Hans. 4e ore anything else, lower your sword. 'e can’t talk i you don’t calmdown.5

Hans shrugged and stepped away rom )dlet.

2'e picked up each o the gems in the room )dlet was talking about and checkedeach one.5

2Did you /nd it8 The gem 3 was talking about that produced the words o light.5

2'ith -ust a look we couldn’t determine all o the power within the light gems.5

2 o then752Howe$er, )dlet we do understand that perhaps you are lying.5

)dlet gulped.

2'hy do you think that85

2)ll o the light gems in that room were created by a renowned aint o &ight o$er/ ty years ago.5

2'hich means85

2That aint created many light gems and made a lot o money selling them at ahigh price. Gommerce isn’t prohibited since e$en at the temples money is


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important, so a large amount o gems she sold are circulating throughout theworld.5

2)nd the gems that she made had a special characteristic. *or starters, all othem are made o topa(. )nd on their sur aces are inscribed a single sacredword.5

2ToFtopa(8 'hat’s that85

23t’s a kind o -ewel. The color is close to a pale yellow and it has a cylindricalshape.5

'ith a commoner’s education there was no way that )dlet would know thedi erent types o gems, not to mention the act that he was completely ignorantwhen it came to light gems.

1 course all o the gems that he’d ound when he’d searched that room hadbeen yellow.


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237 3 de/nitely saw the words o light.


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Ghamo ?osso. The aint o wamps. ) monster by nature. ) girl who possessedthe greatest power without ha$ing to put in any kind o hard work to attain it.*remy couldn’t tolerate losing to an opponent like that.

27Euu.5

*remy’s body twisted in pain. !e$ertheless, she kept walking.This isn’t over yet , *remy thought. I still have my ri/e. And I still have the charmsmy family gave me.

*remy had placed a small bag in her pocket. 'ithin that were ob-ects that wouldseem like nothing but -unk to the other Kyoma, but *remy had care ully carriedthem with her or ages.

The ob-ects were> a tooth that the white li(ard had gi$en her, a piece o the redant’s husk with the word loyalty car$ed into it, one o the Biercing 4ird’s eathers,a section o her mother’s antennae, and a dog whistle.

Though she had lost to Ghamo and was in-ured, she had escaped without lettinggo o those charms. he had a eeling that her amily bonds would lead to her$ictory.

As long as those charms remain and as long as I’m sure of the bond I share withmy family I can 0ght again. And ne%t time I’ll de0nitely win . 'ith those thoughtsin her mind, *remy was able to keep mo$ing.

Howe$er, despite those charms she wasn’t able to erase her morti/cation. hecouldn’t help but apologi(e to e$eryone.

he would step out in ront o her amily and the other Kyoma and declare thatne0t time she would absolutely be $ictorious.

he would make them promise not to call her a hal breed again i she de eatedGhamo. he would make them $ow that her amily would ne$er be tormentedagain. he would come out and say that she wanted e$eryone to be at peace andthat she didn’t want her amily to be hurt any urther.

&y family will robably be disa ointed and it’s likely that I’ll be sub$ected to thescorn of Tgurneu and the others. That would be more pain ul than anything else.

till unable to think o the right words or an apology, *remy managed to reachher nesting place in a corner o the grasslands.

Howe$er, inside the ca$e *remy saw something she hadn’t e0pected> Tgurneu.

I wonder how many years it’s been since we last saw one another.

23 apologi(e. 3 betrayed your e0pectations and Ghamo ?osso75

2Aou’re orgetting your greetings,5 Tgurneu scolded, cutting her o midFsentence.

2Eood e$ening master Tgurneu. The moon is nice tonight.5

Tgurneu sighed and at that moment *remy noticed her amily behind Tgurneu. The white li(ard and the Biercing 4ird had on multiple occasions supported *remyin her battles. 4ut it was unusual to see her mother and the red ant. 3n act, itwas perhaps the /rst time they had e$er le t the 'ailing Demon Territory.


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2%other, ?ed ant, you came or me. 3’m happy, but7 sorry. Ghamo75

They robably came to hear good news , *remy thought. 3t hurt that she couldn’tlet them hear that.

23s this the result o all the e ort we took personally raising you under our care8

!ot only did you come crawling back here a ter you lost, but you orgot yourgreetings8 That’s un ortunate, *remy.5

3t seemed like Tgurneu already knew that she had been de eated. *remy shrank abit and listened to his scolding. 3t was the law o the Kyoma that any who werenot use ul would be killed. The ear o dying made *remy’s body tremble.

2'e apologi(e, %aster Tgurneu,5 said the red ant.

2'e’re sad to say7 it was beyond our power,5 continued the Biercing 4ird.

It’s not your fault , *remy thought.

The red ant had helped *remy with her battle training nonFstop. )nd the Biercing4ird had worked hard to collect in ormation rom the human world. 3t was *remy’s

ault she lost.

2)h, *remy. 'hy did your useless sel come back ali$e8 Did you think that wewere hoping to see a loser sur$i$or85 *remy’s mother asked.

*remy bit her lip. Her mother had been strict but this was the /rst time that shehad e$er used such harsh words with her.

23s this how weak o a Hal Fbreed you are8 3’m quite disappointed,5 said the whiteli(ard.

Hal breed was the word the other Kyoma called *remy. 3t was a word that hadne$er come rom the mouths o her amily. *or the white li(ard to spit such aword at her must ha$e meant that *remy had committed a terrible ailure.

23t is not any o your aults. !o, you all did well. Aou ga$e me this lo$e and at the$ery least succeeded in turning a de ecti$e person like me into a unctionalKyoma.5

23 appreciate your praise. 4ut, the act is you weren’t able to lea$e behind anyresults75

2That’s right. )nd now you’ll all be punished,5 *remy replied automatically.2%aster Tgurneu, please, -ust punish me7 my amily did e$erything right.5

4ut the ne0t instant a scathing rebuke few at her rom behind.

2 uiet hal breedL Don’t open your /lthy mouthL5 the white li(ard shouted.

1id I make my family that angry? *remy wondered. Hal breed was a word shene$er wanted to hear, and yet it had -ust been hurled at her twice.

2 he’s disgusting. he says I-ust punish me.’ The words o a hal breed are /lthy.5

This time it was the Biercing 4ird who had spoken. He had been the kindest

member o her amily, but e$en he was calling her a hal breed.


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2Biercing 4ird, you should know that the hal breed is a lowFli e, as is be/tting o ahal breed.5

This is weird , *remy started to think. Is this really my family? They com letelydetest me. Isn’t that $ust like the other "yoma? This must be a dream orsomething. 2r have -argikk’s followers disguised themselves as her family?

4ut *remy couldn’t belie$e the ne0t words that came rom Tgurneu.

2Aou and your ollowers are reed o your responsibilities. Aou don’t need to raise*remy anymore. Aou also don’t ha$e to pretend to shower her with lo$e.5

(hat did he mean by retend? &y family have rotected me my entire life. (hat about their behavior had $ust been for retend?

2)h, what a relie . 'e don’t need to be associated with this /lthy hal breed anymore.5

*remy noticed that her eet were shaking. he couldn’t accept what washappening in ront o her was real.

23t has been a tough responsibility being beside this hal breed or eighteenyears.5

23s that so8 Aou ha$e my praise or all your hard work,5 Tgurneu replied.

2Aes. 'hat was repulsi$e about this hal Fbreed was that she had showed usa ection. )nd don’t let me get started on how bad that elt75

2That was probably di6cult. 4ut, it’s all o$er now.5

This can’t be true , *remy thought. &y family de0nitely loves me. That’s the onlyreason I was able to survive. It’s im ossible for that love to be a lie.

23t’s okay to kill her. &et out all the pentFup rage you’$e been holding back,5 Tgurneu said and all at once *remy’s amily rushed towards her and attacked.

23t’s not true.5

*remy didn’t dodge or try to block their attacks, and The Biercing 4ird stabbed*remy with his beak while the red ant bit into *remy’s in-ured leg.

23t’s a lie, it’s a lie, it’s ob$iously a lie,5 *remy screamed as she shook the twoKyoma o o her. Then she ran out rom the nest.

he didn’t remember -ust how she ran away. )ll *remy remembered were thewords the amily she had once trusted had said and the despair that completelyengul ed her heart.

2)re you running away hal breed85

2Aou’re not e$en going to obey %aster Tgurneu’s commands85

*remy had been able to get stronger thanks to her amily, and she had wanted toget stronger so that she could protect her amily. Her amily helped her and thatwas how she was able to tolerate the hell she went through e$ery day.


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2Aou thought we could lo$e something like you.5

*remy had wanted to protect e$eryone. he had belie$ed that i she got strongerthat she would be able to do so. 4ut e$ery member o her amily thought e$enher eelings o lo$e had been disgusting.

2%onsterL52!o. %ore than a monster, you’re a worthless piece o trash. Hurry and dieL5

(hat have I even been 0ghting for? (hy did I even become strong? (hat shouldI do now?

Cnable to understand, *remy ran into a thicket. )nd as she staggered through thethicket, holding her hands to her wounds, the red ant and the piercing birdappeared in ront o her.

2Hey, red ant, Biercing bird. Tell me one thing.5

)s the two Kyoma slowly edged their way closer to her it seemed like theyalready thought e$en answering would be repulsi$e.

2'as this all %aster Tgurneu’s plan8 'as making me su er -ust an order yourecei$ed85

That was *remy’s /nal hope. he had absolutely no idea why, but she hoped thatall o this was because Tgurneu had thought it was necessary to treat her likethis, and so her amily would ha$e no choice but to obey.

uddenly she looked to the distance. Tgurneu was looking down at *remy and heramily. )nd he was smiling.

2'as that it85 *remy pressed.

2 he’s strange, don’t you two agree85 Tgurneu asked to the red ant and thepiercing bird be ore turning to address *remy.

2Aou still think that they lo$e you8 Hal Fbreeds are curious creatures, huh85

*remy then heard the red ant and the Biercing 4ird laugh. They were mockingher.

)nd that was when *remy was sure. It was true. They had $ust retended to loveme.

27.Aou laughed.5

The red ant and the Biercing 4ird charged at *remy, and right behind them Tgurneu ollowed in attack.

2Aou laughed. Aou laughed at me.5

*remy produced a bomb in her hand and stuck it in the Biercing 4ird’s ace, thenshe dodged the red ant’s attack and wrapped her hands around her rife grip.

The sound o the amily she lo$ed mocking her and the sound o that amily’sdeath were seared into her eardrums.

)nd e$en now she could still hear them.


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Then with a scream o rage *remy charged at Tgurneu. 4ut what happened ne0thad completely disappeared rom her memory.

=

,o matter where I look there’s robably no one as foolish as me , *remy thought.

'ithout e$en noticing that her amily had really not lo$ed her she had struggledor dear li e in her de$otion to them, and all o that worthless e ort -ust piled up

o$er the years. 'ithout ha$ing any reason to hate humans she hated them. )ndthough it wasn’t necessary to kill them, she had killed potential *lowers.

*remy $owed to get re$engeagainst Tgurneu and came to the 'ailing Demon Territory. he had met up withthe i0 *lowers and she had ought by their side. )nd all the while she hadn’t hadthe aintest idea that it was all a part o Tgurneu’s plan.


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he had thrown away all o the other charms that her amily had gi$en her. hebroke them, burned them with gunpowder, and kicked away the ashes. The dogwhistle was the only one that she held onto or all this time.

he knew that she would de/nitely ne$er be able to see him again. !e$ertheless,she continued to hold on to the whistle. 'hen she de eated the %a-in andsucceeded in her re$enge, she planned on calling her dog with the whistle.

*irst she would con/rm that he was ali$e and well and then she wanted to die.4ut she knew that was a wish that would ne$er be granted.

*remy dropped it on the ground and stepped on it. The wooden dog whistle letout a small cry as it broke.

Her companions -ust leaned their heads to the side, unable to understand whatshe was doing.

23 won’t say that it’s okay, but 3 decided that 3 will die now. !o matter what you

plan on saying 3 will kill mysel right here.5)dlet’s ace /lled with despair and ?olonia shook her head in disagreement, but*remy had already made up her mind.

3t would certainly make Tgurneu happy i *remy were to keep on li$ing. )s long asshe was ali$e he’d probably be chuckling about how his de eat was impossible.

)nd *remy couldn’t tolerate that. !ot e$en or a minute. !ot e$en or a second.

)ll o Tgurneu’s plan hadn’t been made clear to her. Howe$er, it was likely that*remy’s death would ruin a large part o it.

he would crush the plan that he had plotted or many years. That would beenough to satis y her re$enge. 3t wasn’t the complete re$enge that she’d wanted,but at the $ery least she was satis/ed with the act that she could die.

2?ight. Aou’ll die7 o7 lea$e the rest to Ghamo,5 Ghamo said in a slightly pained$oice.

%ora and Eoldo both looked to the foor as i they regretted that *remy woulddie. !ashetania and Do((u also ga(ed at *remy with sad looks in their eyes.

That’s une% ected , *remy thought. he had thought that they’d be a littlehappier.

2!o,5 )dlet said and walked closer to *remy. 2'hy are you saying that8 Aou don’twant to die, right8 o why aren’t you saying that you want to li$e85

)dlet e0tended his hand to *remy, but the ne0t instant a gunshot rang throughthe narrow corridor.

3 )dlet didn’t twist and dodge then the bullet probably would ha$e gone rightthrough his shoulder.

23’ll shoot i you get any closer.5

3n an instant *remy reloaded her rife and /rmly aimed the barrel at )dlet’sstomach.


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23 won’t let you protect me.5

*remy’s rife remained trained on )dlet’s body as he stared at her in utterdisbelie .

=

)t the same time Tgurneu’s main orce was heading towards the Temple o *ate. They had already passed the plains and the *ainting %ountains were right aroundthe corner. Tgurneu, now ha$ing taken the orm o a giant wol Kyoma, wasn’twalking there on his own, but rela0ing atop the back o a turtle Kyoma.

2The stars are beauti ul today,5 Tgurneu said.

Dark pecialist !umber ", someone who could be called Tgurneu’s close aide,was quiet by his side.

2'hat’s the matter85

27.The 4lack 4arren *lower7 essentially.5

!umber " spoke to Tgurneu in a code that only the two o them couldunderstand. The e0istence o the 4lack 4arren *lower was kept a secret rommost o the Kyoma.

23 understand that e$erything is proceeding without any problems. Howe$er, 3’mwondering i something is happening that we hadn’t anticipated75

2Aou don’t understand,5 Tgurneu replied in the same code, as i to say that!umber " was being a killF-oy.

2!o one can de end against e$ery kind o une0pected occurrence. ?ather weshould be prepared or what will de/nitely happen.5

24ut75

!umber " kept challenging Tgurneu. He was the only Kyoma that could $oice hisopinion to Tgurneu reely.

23 it happens then it happens. There’s nothing we can do about that. 'ouldn’ttimes like that be when the se$enth steps in8 Cntil now they ha$e been leisurelystaying with the *lowers, but soon they will ha$e to work or us, so it’smeaningless or them to come here,5 Tgurneu said and then smiled.

2!o matter what happens, it won’t be a problem. The se$enth will deal withe$erything. )nd 3 can say that because that’s how much 3 belie$e in the

e$enth.5

=

%eanwhile, Dark pecialist !umber + had been using his wholeFbody listeningapparatus to ea$esdrop on the i0 *lowers’ con$ersation.5

27'hat should we do, !umber + 85

23 still ha$en’t decided.5

The two o them spoke to each other quietly enough that %ora couldn’t hear.


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They hadn’t e$en been aware o a ragment o Tgurneu’s plan. 3 *remy was the4lack 4arren *lower and her death meant the de eat o Tgurneu’s orces thenthey needed to act now.

4ut, i letting *remy get killed was a trap or i there was some other ob-ecti$ethen there was a chance that the two Kyoma’s actions would ruin e$erything.

The main orce o Kyoma that Tgurneu commanded was still ar away and therewere no signs that !umber ", who was tasked with the role o gi$ing missions othe utmost importance, was coming. Cnable to come to a decision the two Kyoma

-ust continued to wait within the temple labyrinth.

) little later the two o them did recei$e an order. The se$enth> the one who hadbeen gi$en a ake crest and had in/ltrated among the i0 *lowers told them theirmission.

The se$enth ordered the two Kyoma to kill *remy peeddraw.

)nd to get rid o )dlet %aia i he tried to stop them.

Chapter Three: Part One

*remy didn’t eel any kind o hesitation about dying. 3n act, she’d actually eltrelie when she decided to die.

It’s okay not to live anymore.

The moment she thought that it elt like a weight had been li ted rom hershoulders. ince hal a year ago, the day that she had lost e$erything, her li ehad been nothing more than a hea$y burden.

*remy once again thought back to the past.

he didn’t remember how she had ought with Tgurneu. 'hen she /nally becameaware o her surroundings again, she was walking through the wilderness withher body and clothes in shreds. )ll she had on her were her empty rife and thecharms in her clothes.

he remembered unconsciously muttering as she walked, 23 won’t orgi$e them.3’ll kill them.5

Cntil then she had tra$eled alongside a %etamorphosis Kyoma who had thepower to change *remy’s appearance to appear like a human, and she had alsorecei$ed support rom the Kyoma that had been lurking in secret within thehuman world. 4ut now they were all gone.

3 the humans saw *remy with her horn they would call her a monster and attackher, so now a ter running rom Kyoma it was time or her to run rom humans.

I should die , *remy thought again and again. There was no longer anywhere shecould return home to, and no longer any reason or her to li$e. The thought odying was the only thing that brought her peace o mind.

)t times she was close to letting the swords o the humans impale her, and therewas e$en a time when she placed a bomb to the core in her head and was about


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to blow her head o . 4ut right be ore either o those happened *remyreconsidered and chose to continue li$ing.


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she was a Kyoma.

*remy understood that someone who was born rom a human and a Kyoma hadno place to return home.

3 she thought back to that time, she wished she’d killed hersel then. 3 she haddied at that time then she would ha$e gotten her re$enge on Tgurneu.

)bout ten days be ore the %a-in awoke *remy was hiding in a desolate orest agood distance away rom any towns. he was on the brink o e0haustion a ter

running rom humans again and again nonFstop. Then one day a man and awoman with gentle $oices ound her and called to her it was an old married pairo hunters who li$ed on a mountain nearby.

They ushered her o$er to a sa e place and so t bed, things that *remy had beenseeking or what seemed like ages.

I can trust eo le like these , *remy thought. 3ntil the &a$in reawakens and the)eroes of the Si% Flowers a ear they will let me rest here , she thought. 4ecauseo their warm hospitality, *remy was e$en able to think about /ghting the %a-in.

Then one night *remy re$ealed her true identity. he remo$ed her eyepatch and

showed them the scar where her horn used to be. he talked about all the thingsthat had happened to her without holding anything back. 1$er and o$er *remyinsisted that e$erything she was saying was the truth and elt like the old couplebelie$ed her.

Howe$er, *remy noticed that the break ast that they prepared or her the ne0tmorning tasted slightly strange. 3t had been poisoned @ a trap they used toe0terminate beasts.

'ithout saying a word *remy stood up rom her seat, gathered her things, andle t the small hut. he didn’t eel anger or sadness. he was -ust dumb ounded byher stupidity.


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)t that time the last con$ersation she had with her amily echoed in her mind. 3twas the curses o the amily she had lo$ed, the words that re$ealed how they hadpretended to lo$e her and how pain ul it had been to be with her all those years.

4ut *remy didn’t harbor any animosity towards her amily or e$en the old marriedhunters. he had always tried to protect her amily, and she had wished tode$ote hersel to their wellFbeing because o e$erything they had done or her.

Aet that didn’t matter. *remy was where she was was because the humans andthe Kyoma hated her.

I am a monster who isn’t loved by anyone. I’m a monster who’ll never beacce ted by anyone for eternity.


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23 you’re going to shoot, then shoot. !o matter what you do to me 3 will not allowyou to kill yoursel .5

273s that so85

The instant )dlet was about to leap towards *remy, Hans grabbed his shoulder

rom the side. Though one couldn’t imagine it rom his wiry appearance, Hans’grip was strong enough to make the bones in his shoulder creak.

23’ll hold this guy. Aou rela0 and die.5

2Thanks or the help.5

*remy raised her rife away rom )dlet and started to point it towards her head,but instead o )dlet, it was ?olonia who ran in ront o *remy and grabbed herhands.

2Blease wait a second. Aou can’t die.5

?olonia’s hands were shaking. he was using all o her strength to restrain *remy.

2?olonia, calmly think about this. )s long as 3’m ali$e the i0 *lowers can’t win,5*remy said with a $oice tinged by a hint o anger.

2Didn’t )dFkun say not to kill the girl8 That it would be a trap85

2He was lying.5

2)dFkun isn’t a liarL 7!o, sometimes he lies, but he isn’t the type o person whowould lie and e0pose us all to danger. HansFsan -ust didn’t see the words and%oraFsan -ust couldn’t /nd the place where the words o light came rom.5

)dlet elt a slight pain in his chest. Howe$er, there was no way he was going tobreathe a word o the truth.

2)dlet is a liar.5 Ghamo spat coldly while holding her o0tail grass to her lips.

2 tep aside, stupid cow. *remy is going to die here or Ghamo and the others. 3t’ssad, but it can’t be helped.5

2!o. 3 will not step aside,5 ?olonia said, not budging an inch.

2


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Eoldo mo$ed to try and stop )dlet and Ghamo stuck the o0tail grass into herthroat. Howe$er, the two o them were too slow to catch )dlet.

The /rst thing he had to do was to immobili(e *remy so )dlet started to throw aparaly(ing dart at her, aiming or her e0posed midri . Howe$er, )dlet elt a shockrush down his back.

)dlet’s balance crumbled and he ell to the stone foor be ore /nally reali(ingwhat had hit him. Hans had thrown his sword and the hilt had smashed into hisback.

Howe$er e$en though )dlet was on the ground, he was still able to throw aparalysis dart and it struck *remy square in the stomach.

The moment the dart punctured her skin she stopped mo$ing and the energy le tthe hands that ?olonia was trying to keep restrained.

2 top it, )dletL5

Eoldo -umped towards the allen )dlet.

Hans was also on his eet and had drawn his second sword. Howe$er, when itlooked like he was going to head towards *remy and kill her, %ora grappled himto a standstill.

2'hat are you doing, meow85

2Galm downL top this in/ghting right nowL5

Hit by the paralysis dart, *remy’s body crumbled to the ground as i she were apuppet whose strings had -ust been cut.

'atching her hit the foor, )dlet shouted, 2?oloniaL Erab *remy and runL5

)t e0actly the same time, Hans also shouted, 2GhamoL Kill *remyL5

Howe$er, Ghamo didn’t e$en need to wait to hear Hans’ order. he was alreadymo$ing, and $omited out some ;yuma that headed o$er to eliminate *remy.

3n response to )dlet’s cry, ?olonia started to mo$e. he swung her whip in a widesweeping motion and all o Ghamo’s ;yuma were scattered backwards.

2?un, ?oloniaL HurryL5 )dlet shouted, but at the e0act same time Eoldo pinnedhim down to the ground.

)dlet desperately wiggled his le t hand out o Eoldo ’s hold and threw a smokebomb rom one o the pouches on his waist. 3t e0ploded at the center o the

;yuma and the narrow corridor /lled with smoke.

'ithin the smoke, )dlet could aintly see ?olonia pick up *remy’s body and rundown the labyrinth away rom aint o a *lower’s room. Then Ghamo’s ;yuma

ollowed her.

23diotsL


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27This is dangerous. 'e can’t lea$e GhamoFsan and the others be,5 !ashetaniasaid as she wiped some dust o her clothing. Then she drew her rapier and randown the labyrinth corridor a ter Ghamo and ?olonia.

2'aitL !ashetaniaL Don’t act on your ownL5 %ora shouted, but without turningaround, !ashetania rounded a corner and disappeared.

2Blease calm down. he probably -ust headed to stop the /ghting. 3 am sure theyshe does not intend to cause trouble or the i0 *lowers,5 Do((u said.

2'hat the7 )dlet, what stupidity ha$e you done,5 %ora said, looking at )dletwith resentment. the e ect o the dart wouldn’t last long and )dlet didn’t

know how long ?olonia could keep on running.)ow am I su osed to rotect Fremy after the aralysis wears o4?

)dlet had no idea.

Chapter Three: Part Two

2Heeee, heeee, heeee,5 ?olonia whee(ed, unable to catch her breath as she ranthrough the labyrinth.

1n her shoulder, *remy tried desperately to mo$e, but she could not budge e$ena /nger. 3t seemed like )dlet had used an e0tremely power ul paralysis dart.

*remy then tried to produce gunpowder in her hand she planned to produce abomb strong enough to destroy hersel without harming ?olonia. Howe$er, theparalysis didn’t -ust a ect her body, it also e0tended to her mind. )nd withoutconcentration the bomb wouldn’t take shape in her hand.

)e tricked me , *remy thought.

he had been so preoccupied with ?olonia that she had allowed her guardagainst )dlet to grow la0. he had taken his power ar too lightly.

2?un, you ha$e to run, but umm, which way75 ?olonia muttered.

3t was probably $ery tough or her to run with *remy on her back. )nd whether itwas out o conscientiousness or -ust by coincidence, ?olonia was e$en carrying*remy’s rife.

?olonia -ust turned corners and went up and down fights o stairs without anyidea where she was headed. The act that she didn’t hit a dead end yet wassimply thanks to luck. *remy could hear the screams o the ;yuma behind them,and mi0ed with them she could also aintly hear Ghamo’s shouts o anger.

2 tupid cowL 3 you don’t stop Ghamo will kill youL5

2)aaahhh7 wh7 wh7 what should 3 do85


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*remy elt sorry or ?olonia. The cowardly girl couldn’t handle being pursued byGhamo. 4ut she didn’t look down on ?olonia or being a raid. he knew /rsthand

-ust how terri ying it was to be chased by Ghamo.

Howe$er, this was not the time to eel pity. he had to escape rom ?olonia’sgrasp, somehow. Aet, e$en though she knew what she needed to do, her bodywouldn’t mo$e at all.

2%oraFsan, which way should 3 go8 %oraFsan, please answer meL %oraFsanL5?olonia shouted.

Howe$er, %ora’s mountain echoes ne$er answered back.

?olonia was approaching a threeF orked road, but she could hear ;yumaapproaching her rom each path. 3t seemed like Ghamo had ordered her ;yuma tosplit up and surround ?olonia.

23’m7 3’m sorry ;yumaFsanL5

?olonia swung her whip and struck the ;yuma down hard. 3n the narrow hallwaythey couldn’t come at her all at once, and with her ability to manipulate bloodshe was able to draw out their blood and cause the ;yuma to collapse to theground. The remaining ;yuma screamed, relaying ?olonia’s position to Ghamo.

2*r, *remyFsan, please7 rela07 3 won’t let you die,5 ?olonia said as she ran.

Eradually both the roars o the ;yuma and Ghamo grew aint. %aybe as they wentup and down countless fights o stairs Ghamo got lost.

(hat are all you doing? *remy thought in irritation.

)ans and +oldof# are you still )eroes of the Si% Flowers?

2*remyFsan,5 ?olonia said. he had come to a stop and was trying to catch herbreath.

23 understand that you think you ha$e no choice but to die, both or e$eryone’ssake and or the world. Howe$er, 3 hate that. )dFkun said it. 'e can’t abandonour companions and we ha$e to protect one another until the $ery end. 3 wedon’t eel like protecting one another then e$en the /ghts we can win willbecome hopeless. )nd75

There seemed to be another ;yuma on the other side o a :Fway intersection.

?olonia stopped and hid in the shadow o a pillar. 'hen she saw it had passed byand was heading in a di erent location, ?olonia ran down the path the ;yuma hadcome rom.

2*remyFsan is important to )dFkun. 3 you were to die then he wouldn’t be able to/ght anymore. 'ith his riend and the $illagers rom his hometown dead, you areall that he has le t. Blease, understand that.5

)s ?olonia hid, she desperately kept on trying to persuade *remy.

2Blease trust )dFkun. )dFkun can accomplish anything i it will help protect you,*remyFsan. o he can de/nitely kill Tgurneu.5

(hat a sad child , *remy thought as she listened to ?olonia’s pleas.


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he still hadn’t reali(ed )dlet’s true intentions. he had no idea who he reallywas.

=

2Eoldo , step aside. 3 ha$e to treat )dlet’s in-uries.5

%ora let go o Hans’ hands and came o$er to )dlet’s side. he then orciblypushed Eoldo to the side and reed )dlet.

?ubbing his hurting stomach, Hans stared at )dlet.

23 -ust got hit by the hilt o his sword,5 )dlet said, brushing aside %ora’s hand andstanding to his eet. 23 don’t need treatment.5

Then he noticed something on the foor that looked like small ragments. 3t waswhat *remy had taken out o her clothes earlier and then smashed.

He mo$ed o$er to the pieces and picked them up. 3t was a wooden whistle thathad been broken in two. 3t seemed like the whistle )dlet used to call Kyoma.

It’s a dog whistle , )dlet’s instincts told him.

)nd once his mind settled on that he immediately reali(ed e0actly what it was orand why she might ha$e been walking around with it all this time.

'hat the hell *remy, you really do want to see your dog again, don’t you8 )dletthought.

2'hat are you doing85 )dlet muttered.

If you break this then how will you call your dog? I $ust vowed to make it so that you would see your dog again. 5ou’re not letting me kee my romise like this.

I can still 0% it , he thought and tucked the whistle ragments into one o thepouches on his waist.

2'hat should we do now85 %ora asked.

23t’s ob$ious,5 )dlet replied. 2'e will stop Ghamo. Then we’ll stop *remy romkilling hersel . 'hat is there other than that8 Gall Ghamo to us with yourmountain echoes and tell her that she can’t kill *remy.5

273 told her earlier, but Ghamo isn’t listening. he shouted or me to stay away.5

2 hitL5

)dlet was about to start running down the labyrinth halls in pursuit o Ghamo,when Eoldo stepped in ront o him.

273 can’t7 let you go.5

+et out of my way , he tried to say. He e$en thought about kicking Eoldo andmo$ing past him, but the ne0t instant )dlet ro(e. Eoosebumps appeared on hisskin as i his back had been touched with ice.

2CmeowL5


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Hans’ idiotic $oice echoed through the hall. He’d picked up the sword he’d thrownand was twirling his weapons and staring right at )dlet. )nd -ust that look wasenough to stop him rom taking e$en a single step.

)e wants to kill me . 'ith his training and e0perience as a warrior he could sensethat, and -ust Hans’ intent was enough to stop )dlet in his tracks.


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27Aou’re -oking taking that stance and tone with me, right85 )dlet said back,readying his sword.


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Hans was -ust aimlessly walking around, but )dlet couldn’t lower his sword. Hansdidn’t ha$e any openings in his de enses, so i )dlet were to rela0 his guard hewould be cut down.

2*irst o all, be ore 3 e$en say the proo that )dlet is the se$enth, 3 need to talkabout my hypothesis.5

2*or starters, 3 think that e$erything *remy has said up till now is true. *remygenuinely loathes the Kyoma and the act that she was betrayed by her amily isa act. There are no lies here.5

)dlet had the same opinion.

24ut there is something strange. 'hy did Tgurneu e$en hurt *remy and make herdetest the Kyoma in the /rst place8 'hat is so important about that85

24ear the ake crest o the i0 *lowers and in/ltrate the i0 *lowers, thencontinue to beha$e as their companion until the power o the 4lack 4arren *lower

wipes them all out. 3 that had been the order then that would ha$e been the endo the story. *remy had pledged her loyalty to Tgurneu, a ter all. o why didn’t he

-ust order her to do that, meow85

Hans continued his e0planation, 2There are a number o possibilities. %aybe heeared the power o the aint o 'ords orbidding him rom lying8 That isn’t

impossible. Howe$er, he could ha$e -ust sent Kyoma into the human world andrestrained the aint o 'ords and that probably would ha$e been the end othat.5

21r did he think the possibility o seeing through his plan would be lower i *remytruly was made to hate the Kyoma rather than simply being ordered to pretend tohate them8 That also doesn’t seem likely, meow. *remy is not a oolish girl. Hermoti$es wouldn’t be seen through so easily.5

Hans stretched his hands out wide.

2%aking *remy hate the Kyoma was a dangerous mo$e or Tgurneu. 'hat i*remy despaired o the world and ended up killing hersel 8 1r instead o thinkingabout re$enge she chose to li$e quietly in the human world8 ) ter all o hisplanning he would ha$e to start all o$er. 3n other words, e$en though Tgurneuwould be risking danger, to him it was important to make *remy hate him. 3 canonly think o one reason that would e0plain that.5

23t was to make *remy a genuine Hero o the i0 *lowers. 3 she didn’t genuinelydetest the Kyoma or seriously consider killing the %a-in then she would not begi$en the crest o the i0 *lowers.5

o based on that reasoning 3 am declaring that *remy isn’t the se$enth.5

2 o what85

23’m still in the middle o my e0planation. Don’t be impatient,5 Hans scoldedbe ore continuing. 2 o i *remy is not the se$enth then that raises anotherquestion. *or what purpose is Tgurneu using the se$enth8


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2'ith *remy being the 4lack 4arren *lower, -ust her being nearby would kill us all,and i that’s the case then the se$enth wouldn’t e$en be necessary in the /rstplace.5

2!o, much more than not being use ul, the e0istence o the se$enth would beharm ul or Tgurneu. 3 *remy were suspected o being the se$enth then shewould be killed by us and all o Tgurneu’s hard work would go up in smoke,right85

)e’s de0nitely right about that , )dlet thought. He couldn’t necessarily agree withwhat Hans was saying, but at the same time his words de/nitely seemedreasonable.

2!o, the truth is there were many times when his plans were in danger oamounting to nothing.5

23n the 3llusion *og 4arrier *remy was the /rst to be suspected o being these$enth. )nd e$en a ter we in/ltrated the 'ailing Demon Territory, both Ghamoand 3 had continued to doubt her. 'hy had Tgurneu risked such danger8 'hatbene/t would he gain rom slipping the se$enth into our group85

2Chhh,5 )dlet muttered.

2 urely, we were con used by the se$enth’s e0istence. 'e doubted %ora, Eoldo ,and then ?olonia. 'e were cautious o each other so we weren’t able to /ght tothe best o our abilities which sometimes halted our progress. 2

24ut, meow, that isn’t a bene/t worth risking the danger o losing the 4lack4arren *lower.5

2Butting %ora into a trap was de/nitely a strategy that wouldn’t ha$e happened i the se$enth weren’t among us. Howe$er, though %ora is power ul, it’sunthinkable that sacri/cing *remy -ust to kill her alone would be worth it.5

2)nd other than the trap o the 4lack 4arren *lower, did Tgurneu intend onmaking the se$enth kill the i0 *lowers8 That also seems unlikely, meow. Thereha$e been many chances to kill us. 3 they had elt like betraying us they couldha$e done so whene$er they liked.5

2!e$ertheless, so ar the se$enth hasn’t killed any o us.5

27Hans.5 )dlet /nally understood what Hans was trying to say.

2%y urther proo is this supposition, meow. Tgurneu -ust ga$e one order to these$enth. Eet *remy to meet up with the i0 *lowers and continue to protect her.

That’s it, meow.5

Hans looked to )dlet.

24ased on this hypothesis, try to think about all the actions )dlet has taken up tillnow, meow.5

)dlet’s spine went sti . He was a raid. He was a raid o both the persuasi$epower o Hans’ words and the conclusion that would deri$e rom that line othought.


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273n order to7. protect *remy7. he lied7 about the words o light,5 Eoldo said,and Hans nodded.

23n addition, be ore that he’d told ?olonia and 3 to conceal the truth about *remy,meow. He roped us into committing the same o ense, meow.5

It’s true that I lied , )dlet thought. *ut that wasn’t because Tgurneu ordered meto. Fremy is im ortant to me# so I lied because I didn’t want to let her die. I’m not thinking of using Fremy to kill the Si% Flowers or anything like that.

2)dlet usually said, Idon’t suspect our companions,’ meow. )s long as node/niti$e proo comes out then he would not allow anyone to declare acompanion the se$enth. !ow, 3 think this was also said to protect *remy.5

Sto screwing around , )dlet thought. He had -ust been desperately trying topre$ent the group rom breaking apart.

24e ore reaching the 3llusion *og 4arrier the princess and 3 attacked *remy. )t

that time, )dlet had been the one who protected her,5 Eoldo said. That was a ter he’d ound out that *remy was a Hero o the i0 *lowers, and as acompanion he would protect her. (asn’t that natural? )dlet wondered.

2)nd e$en when the 3llusion *og 4arrier was acti$ated )dlet continued saying that*remy wasn’t the culprit, though he didn’t ha$e any e$idence. he was the i0*lower Killer and the daughter o a Kyoma. o why did )dlet think that she wasn’tguilty85

2


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2)t the $ery least there is one think that is clearly true. 3 it weren’t or you then*remy would not ha$e -oined up with us. The 4lack 4arren *lower would not ha$eacti$ated. That is enough to declare you are the se$enth.5

27That’s a stretch. Aou’re adding one and one together and coming up with threeor our.5

2Aou were actually quite cle$er. uite ormidable, )dlet. The entire time we didn’tknow about the 4lack 4arren *lower we’d been decei$ed by you. )ctually, i thelie about the words o light hadn’t been re$ealed then we might still be sub-ect toyour deception.5

2)dlet, you are the se$enth. Aou recei$ed orders rom Tgurneu and ha$eprotected *remy. 'as my theory persuasi$e enough or you85

)dlet was shaking. Howe$er, it wasn’t out o ear, but anger.

1o you know how it was to have my entire village destroyed? 1o you know how

dee ly I hate Tgurneu? 1o you even understand what hell I’ve endured in orderto be able to kill Tgurneu?

He elt like Hans was trampling all o$er those thoughts. He was e$en denying hisdesire to protect *remy as being nothing more than a abrication.

23’$e witnessed my home be utterly destroyed. )nd you think that a ter that 3would ser$e Tgurneu85

2The humans that ha$e been manipulated by Tgurneu happily ollowed hisorders,5 Do((u said. 23t was as i ollowing Tgurneu’s orders was the greatest -oy.Berhaps Tgurneu’s ability to command humans7 is considerably power ul.5

He had no memory o recei$ing orders rom Tgurneu or anything like that. Therewas absolutely no way that he would ollow his orders.

2'hether Tgurneu e$en has the ability to command humans to do his will isuncertain. )dlet may be being manipulated or the $ery act that his hometownwas destroyed might be a lie.5

23 could ne$er ollow Tgurneu’s ordersL 3t was a coincidence that 3 ran into *remyL3 protected her because it was importantL The moment 3 saw *remy 3 wanted toprotect herL There is no other reason other than thatL5

2Berhaps you would say that, meow7 e$en i you were the se$enth,5 Hanssco ed.

Chapter Three: Part Three

Adlet is the seventh , *remy thought as ?olonia carried her on her shoulder. hehad -ust become sure a bit earlier. 'hen he had lied about the words o light, shethought the chances were nine out o ten, but it was when he had hit her with aparalysis dart and then made ?olonia rush her away rom Ghamo that she knewwithout a doubt that it was true.

Howe$er, she had started to doubt him long be ore those two moments. he’dbeen suspicious e$er since ?olonia appeared. 1r was it e$en be ore, that whense$en heroes had gathered within the 3llusion *og 4arrier instead o si08 1r,perhaps she had suspected him all the way back when they /rst met8


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)s or the paralysis, because her body was tougher than the a$erage person, thee ects were already starting to wear o little by little.

-an I talk? she wondered. % aybe I’ve recovered enough to roduce gun owder#even though it will still be di8cult to control.

Howe$er, *remy decided to pretend it still hadn’t worn o . 3 they knew that shecould mo$e again then ?olonia would probably bind *remy with her whip to keepher rom killing hersel . )nd then she might be kicked in the head and renderedunconscious.

3 she reco$ered to the point where she could mo$e without any di6culty, then*remy could ree hersel rom ?olonia’s shoulder and run to where Ghamo’s

;yuma were. Then she would be killed and it would all be o$er.

he had decided to gi$e up on killing )dlet the se$enth with her own hands.


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Howe$er, *remy ultimately helped him. he protected him when %ora and Eoldo were pursuing him. )nd she desperately treated his wounds as his li e hung inthe balance a ter he had collapsed rom his in-uries.

That was a momentary delusion. *remy had quickly put an end to that beha$ior. There was no way that she could trust )dlet, not to mention lo$e him, becausee$en then she had understood that he was -ust using her. he had known thatdeep down he hated her.

The ne0t morning ?olonia appeared and only made the mystery e$en morecomplicated. )nd a ter that the i0 *lowers entered into the 'ailing Demon

Territory and had an allFout /ght with Tgurneu.

)dlet e$en more than be ore continued to act like he lo$ed *remy. )nd obli$iousto the eelings ?olonia harbored or him, he continued to send her lo$ing looks.

urely he’s thinking 3’m going to betray him, *remy had thought as she watchedhis actions. He was probably apprehensi$e about how she hesitated to /ght theKyoma that had raised her, and how she thought about that she wanted to returnto her amily home.

Berhaps him whispering that he’d make her happy, or $owing to show the worldthat he’d protect her, or him acting like he would ne$er doubt her was all done inorder to cement her as his ally.

The sel Fproclaimed 'orld’s trongest. )lso known as the cowardly warrior. Theman that would say anything in order to win. He was probably someone whowould whisper words o lo$e without meaning them and eel no pang o guilt.

That’s how *remy interpreted )dlet’s actions. Howe$er, e$en i he got on herner$es or made her angry, she couldn’t hate him. he continued to worry aboutthe weak and unreliable guy. )nd because o those eelings she probably wouldha$e remained in the dark about his true intentions i they had ne$er come to thetemple.

4ut now *remy knew the truth about hersel . he knew about the 4lack 4arren*lower, a aint 3nstrument which -ust had to e0ist to be able to kill all o the i0*lowers. )nd in addition she now understood why )dlet had tried to protect her.

He had protected her in order to kill the i0 *lowers. He had pretended to lo$eher in order to throw *remy o her guard and because he needed a reason to

protect her.3 he was a genuine Hero o the i0 *lowers and was /ghting in order to de eatthe %a-in and Tgurneu then he would not ha$e a reason to protect her a ter allthat was re$ealed. )nd he de/nitely wouldn’t ha$e lied about the words o light.

Howe$er she wasn’t angry that she’d been used. he had known rom thebeginning that there wasn’t anyone in the world who would lo$e a monster likeher.

The only thing she elt towards )dlet was a pure murderous rage. he couldn’torgi$e those who allied with Tgurneu.


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The number o ;yuma attacking ?olonia and !ashetania was increasing. The twohumans would /ght then fee, /ght and fee again and again, but bit by bit theywere being backed into a corner.

2This might be impossible,5 !ashetania said.

The two o them had a chance to escape, but with all o the ;yuma surroundingthem it would probably be tough.

2)dletFsan hasn’t come, so do you think we should gi$e up and hand o$er *remyFsan soon85

2Th7 that’s terrible. 'hy did you come here85 ?olonia said, fustered.

23 came here to stop the group rom breaking up. !e$ertheless, 3’m not obligatedto e0pose mysel to danger. %y li e is important.5

*remy couldn’t understand what !ashetania wanted to do. )t /rst she suspectedthat she was conspiring with )dlet in order to kill the i0 *lowers, but that wasstarting to seem unlikely.

-ould it be that she hasn’t reali6ed the seventh’s true identity? (as she thatim erce tive?

Howe$er, no matter what !ashetania was plotting, what *remy was going to dodidn’t change. he was gradually reco$ering rom the paralysis. 'hen she couldmo$e her body again she would watch or an opening in ?olonia’s de enses andlower hersel rom her shoulder. he would then e0pose her head to the ;yuma in

ront o them and they would crush her it in their -aws.

Despite being cut down by !ashetania’s blades or fung back by ?olonia’s whip,the ;yuma -ust re ormed and continued their pursuit. o slowly, both ?olonia and!ashetania started to show signs o e0haustion.

=

Hans was blocking the way into the labyrinth and Eoldo was circling behind)dlet. 3t wasn’t a stretch to think that he’d be attacked anytime now.


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Though Do((u looked like he was about to say something, he obediently listenedto Hans and sat down.

2%ora, can you con$ince *remy to change her mind about killing hersel 85

)dlet said to %ora behind him.

2 he won’t listen to me. 3n act, 3 don’t think she’ll listen to anyone.5

5ou’re going to give u without even trying? )dlet wondered. So I have no choicebut to talk with Fremy face to face after all. 3 he could con$ince her then the twoo them could assist ?olonia and all three o them could ace Ghamo together. 3he couldn’t con$ince her then he would be orced to hit her with anotherparalysis dart, throw her o$er his shoulder and take her away rom the temple.

2Eet out o our way, HansL5 )dlet shouted and charged towards Hans.

)t the same time Hans leaped, ran up the wall and kicked o the ceiling. He wastrying to attack )dlet’s blind spot.

)dlet simply couldn’t ollow Hans’ mo$ements. *or starters there was ano$erwhelming di erence between their sword/ghting abilities. )nd on top o that,Hans’ inhuman /ghting style put him at a massi$e ad$antage in a con/ned spacelike the corridors.

2)dletL5

3t was probably impossible to dodge his attack and blocking it might be di6culttoo, so )dlet didn’t e$en try to deal with the attacks. He -ust continued to runstraight away without putting up any sort o de ense or launching any kind oattack.

2%eow85

)dlet’s actions threw Hans o . He didn’t seem to predict how )dlet wouldretaliate, which resulted in his /rst attack cutting through the air. Howe$er, whenHans’ hands landed on the ground he used his arms to spring back up and launchhis second attack at )dlet’s back.

I can’t esca e , )dlet thought as Hans attacked. I have to take a chance .

23 won’t let you do this HansL5

)dlet had thought that %ora would stop Hans’ attack and it turned out that he’dbeen right. %ora rammed her shoulder into Hans and knocked him into the wall.

%eanwhile )dlet continued to run straight down the labyrinth halls. Howe$er,there was no way that Eoldo would -ust watch quietly rom the sidelines.

2'hat are you doing, Hans85

)dlet elt an ominous eeling and -umped up -ust as Eoldo threw a small bladethat few -ust se$eral centimeters beneath his eet.

2HansL *ollow themL5

2%eowL5


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)dlet could hear their $oices behind him and he knew that i he stopped theywould be able to catch up to him. o he continued to rush down the labyrinth as

ast as he could.

=

eeing that )dlet had dodged his short sword and Hans had been stopped by%ora, Eoldo rushed o$er to assist Hans. Eoldo was well aware that he couldn’tcatch up to )dlet himsel . Hans was the only one who could stop him.

) ter hitting Hans against the wall, %ora grappled with the assassin ande$entually pinned him to the ground. Howe$er, Eoldo struck the side o %ora’sstomach with the sha t o his spear.

He had held back with his strike, howe$er it was still su6cient to ree Hans.

2Cgh7 )dletL5

)s Eoldo ’s spear hit her, %ora pulled something out rom within her irongauntlets. he then threw it towards )dlet. He caught it without e$en lookingback.

23 won’t let you go, meowL5 Hans shouted and started to chase a ter )dlet.

Eoldo saw %ora take out another ob-ect while simultaneously blocking his ne0tattack. Then she threw it as hard as she could at the wall.

Hans tried to run a ter )dlet, but soon he came to an abrupt stop as i he’dbumped into something, 2CmeowL5

Eoldo could see that some kind o /lm was stretched across the labyrinth hall,blocking the corner which )dlet had disappeared around.

27%ora.5

Eoldo had seen something like that when she had barricaded them inside theca$e at the 4ud o


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23 the two o you are going to trust your hunches then 3’m going to trust my ownthoughts. 3 won’t let you inter ere with )dlet,5 %ora said o$er her shoulder andthen disappeared rom Eoldo and Hans’ $iew.

Hans watched her lea$e with a wry smile. Despite the act that the situation hadbeen getting worse, his demeanor didn’t seem to e$en ha$e a little bit o panic.

21h well, that’s /ne. 3 this was easy then it wouldn’t be so interesting, meow.5

Hans en-oyed /ghting. 3t was a mentality that Eoldo couldn’t understand.

Though it would probably be di6cult to capture them, they had no choice but topursue. o Eoldo started to run in the opposite direction o the path that wasblocked o by the barrier.

2'ait. Aou stay here and watch o$er Do((u,5 Hans said.

Eoldo turned around and spotted Do((u sitting down in ront o the aint o a*lower’s chamber.

2He and !ashetania didn’t -ust come here to e0pose the truth about the 4lack4arren *lower. They must be planning something. 'atch o$er Do((u and don’t lethim mo$e an inch, meow.5

3t was uncom ortable or him to let Hans go take care o )dlet by himsel .Howe$er, Do((u also couldn’t be le t alone. )nd as or !ashetania, he honestlydidn’t know what she was really thinking.

2&ea$e )dlet to me.5

24ut so ar ha$en’t all you’$e been doing is ailing85

2Don’t say thatL5 Hans said in an embarrassed tone and rushed down thelabyrinth. Howe$er, Eoldo wondered i he could really capture )dlet in the $astlabyrinth.

Do((u sighed. 2


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2?ight, understood,5 )dlet replied, complying with %ora’s mountain echoes.

He had to bear Ghamo in mind.


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23’$e been thinking that *remy is the se$enth and that she came here withoutknowing both that she was the se$enth or the 4lack 4arren *lower. Tgurneutricked her so that she would come seeking re$enge.5

2 o what85

2Tgurneu probably thought that the chance o *remy being chosen as one o theHeroes o the i0 *lowers wasn’t that high. There might be si0 more suitableindi$iduals that would show up. )nd it might not ha$e e$en been possible or acrest o the i0 *lowers to be gi$en to a Kyoma in the /rst place. )nd i thathappened his plot would ail. o in order to de/nitely make it so that *remy metup with the i0 *lowers, gi$ing her the se$enth crest was the most importantpriority.5

27%ora7 mo$e aside.5

2) ter that Tgurneu lured me into a trap. 3 3 had died as the se$enth then thesuspicions towards *remy would ha$e disappeared and none o you would betrying to kill each other. That was probably all a part o Tgurneu’s plot.5

)dlet didn’t care who the se$enth was or anything like that. !or did he careanymore about what Tgurneu’s plan was. The only thing in his head was hisdesire to protect *remy.

3t was )dlet’s dream to make *remy happy and to ree her rom hatred andsolitude. He e$en elt that i that dream didn’t come true then $ictory would bemeaningless.

2'e ha$e won. Aou protected me. Eoldo sa$ed !ashetania and made her allywith us. Do((u had in ormation about the Temple o *ate. ?olonia ound ?aina. 'eha$e completely destroyed Tgurneu’s plans.5

24ut7.375

2Aou need to gi$e up on *remy.5

+ive u . Those words echoed through )dlet’s head.

2


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There was only a little bit o time le t and without %ora’s cooperation )dlet’swords would ne$er reach *remy. There was no way to stop Ghamo nor a way tosupport ?olonia.

Is there no way? Is there no longer anything I can do from here? )dletdesperately racked his brains or a solution. Don’t despair, he told himsel . Herecalled )tro telling him to laugh at despair.

23s there no other option e0cept7.letting *remy die85 )dlet muttered.

4ut at the same time he thought that something seemed strange. )s his bodytwisted with despair, )dlet thought about the true nature o his uneasiness>

The speech and conduct o *remy, the 4lack 4arren *lower. The still unknownidentity o the se$enth. )nd the act that he himsel was suspected.

The idea that )dlet was the se$enth was Hans’ hypothesis. )nd e$en though hethought part o Hans’ theory was on point, %ora’s hypothesis was completely o .

Tgurneu was not that nai$e. The sacred words that described the 4lack 4arren *lower. The abilities o the4lack 4arren *lower that were still hidden. Do((u saying that someone was beingmanipulated by Tgurneu. 3t was a act that )dlet wasn’t the se$enth. Aet )dletwas starting to eel some doubts.

(hy isn’t the seventh rotecting Fremy?

)nd /nally he thought about the Kyoma’s actions.

)ll o those thoughts were connected by only one point, which lead to oneconclusion.

I’m an idiot , )dlet thought.

(hy haven’t I been able to come to this answer until now?

Despite his sel Fdeprecation, he once again thought about *remy. ,o matter what it takes I have to rotect Fremy. ,o matter what kind of result that invites or if Ihave to sacri0ce my own life to do it.

2)dlet. Ei$e up. Do this or us,5 %ora said quietly.

)dlet co$ered his ace with both o his hands and started to shake and sob.

27)dlet. There are no words 3 could say,5 %ora said, drawing closer to )dlet. 23’msorry. 3 ha$e hurt you. 3 was able to protect my daughter, but you75

%ora gently placed her hand on )dlet’s shoulder.

4ut %ora hadn’t noticed one thing. )dlet was only pretending to cry.

There wasn’t any other way and there wasn’t any time to think about what to doa ter he e0ecuted his plan.

Howe$er, )dlet was sure that i he were to let *remy die now then it would be theend o the i0 *lowers.

2Huh85 %ora asked, as )dlet grabbed the hand she had placed on his shoulder.


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=

!either %ora nor )dlet had noticed that Dark pecialist !umber + had beenright ne0t to them. Gamoufaged to resemble the stone fooring, it was listeningto their con$ersation only se$eral centimeters behind %ora.

=)t the same time *remy had reali(ed that she could probably mo$e her bodyagain. 1 course she wouldn’t be able to mo$e as well as she normally did, but itshould be enough to escape rom ?olonia’s grasp. The number o ;yumasurrounding !ashetania and ?olonia was increasing and their hands were ull -usttrying to de end against the ;yuma’s attacks.

o since *remy had pretended not to be able to mo$e or a while, ?olonia wascompletely unprepared or when she kneed her in the back o the head.

2)hL5

?olonia staggered orward rom the blow and *remy rolled o o her shoulder. Then she dragged her hal F unctioning legs as ast as she could towards the ;yuma nearby.

2!oL top it, *remyFsanLL55

*remy headed right towards the angs o a water snake ;yuma and presented herhead. Howe$er, the ne0t instant all o the ;yuma stopped mo$ing. Then they allsuddenly re$erted to mud and le t in a wa$e.

27'hat85 *remy asked, completely bewildered about what had -ust happened.

?olonia threw her body onto *remy and tried to hold her down.

2&et go o me, you nuisance.5

23 can’t, *remyFsan. Don’t die.5

27Gurious. 'hat happened to GhamoFsan85 !ashetania said.

*remy had also been wondering the same thing as she tried to shake ?olonia oo her.

There shouldn’t be any reason why -hamo would give u on trying to kill me?(ait# she couldn’t have been knocked out by Adlet# could she? *remy thought,right be ore she heard Ghamo’s $oice.

2This is terribleL *remyL top trying to die right nowL5

*remy was completely con used.


56/56

traddling a slug ;yuma, Ghamo came o$er to their location. he seemed to ha$ea look o both urgency and burning anger.

Ghamo -umped o the back o the slug ;yuma and came up to ?olonia. he thenpunched her in the ace hard enough to hurt her wrist.

2Aou’re a giant idiot, ?olonia. Aou’$e made an outrageous mess o e$erything.527'ha7what happened85

2Aou didn’t hear 1bachan’s mountain echoes85

Ghamo grit her teeth in rage. )t that point ?olonia /nally seemed to notice thatsomething unusual had happened.

21bachan has been taken hostage7by )dlet.5

27.'hat are you saying85

2)dlet captured 1bachan. he’s been tied up. )nd )dlet said that i Ghamo andthe others kill *remy, he will cut her throatL5

)t /rst ?olonia ga$e a small laugh as i to say it’s probably a -oke. Howe$er, shesoon reali(ed it wasn’t and sank down to the foor.

27?ight,5 *remy muttered.

*remy didn’t eel anger or anything like that. he had known or a long time that)dlet was the se$enth and that he would use whate$er means necessary to win.

2&et’s go, ?olonia. 'e ha$e to take down )dlet and sa$e %ora,5 *remy coldly saidto ?olonia as she sat on the foor in a da(e.

Documents

Rokka No Yuusha v5 Ch1,2