Amidst the atmosphere of everyone letting go of their worries and enjoying
the intoxication, Anes and Belka were also blending in.
"Huaah… It's so refreshing…"
Belka had been holding an ice glass to her cheek for a while, while Anes
occasionally rotated a cube without putting anything in her mouth.
"This mission seems easier than I thought…"
Anes looked at Belka expressionlessly.
"We are still on a mission. Do not let your guard down."
"Oh, yes…"
"No one knows when or what kind of situation might arise."
"Yesss…"
Belka, disheartened, only glanced at Anes for cues.
Indeed, for a girl like Belka, who feared human interactions themselves,
Anes could be considered a natural enemy. Her tone was stiff, and her
expression was cold.
"Um, how long do we have to stay in Luiple…?"
"At least a week."
Anes replied, rotating the cube with one hand.
Assuming they hadn't identified the cause, they should observe for at least a
week to determine if Luiple had truly become a safe area. Also, they needed
results.
If they found and eliminated the cause, returning immediately would be
possible, but that was easier said than done.
"This bet… it's really important, right? I heard that if we win, we can
access the Royal Treasury…"
"Of course, it's a very important bet, but not just because of the Royal
Treasury."
"Huh…? Is there another reason it's that important…?"
Belka's pink eyes widened.
"There's the inter-tower exchange meeting soon."
Belka still seemed not to understand, so Anes elaborated slowly.
"The Imperial Tower has missed the exchange meeting more than ten times.
The other towers will start to notice that the Imperial Tower is unstable."
"Right…?"
"But if we achieve results in Luiple, the suspicion towards the Imperial
Tower will lessen a bit. The likelihood of being undermined will also
decrease."
"U-Undermined? They do that at the exchange meeting?"
"…Do you think the exchange meeting is a tea party?"
Anes clicked her tongue.
"They just call it an exchange meeting, but it's practically a battlefield. It's
a place where lives are threatened."
"Wh-why? Why is there such a meeting…?"
"Because there needs to be checks against each other and struggles to
survive for magic to develop. Like swords, magic is also an art built on
blood."
"It's scary… Can't we just not participate…?"
"We delayed the sale of the tower with the promise of results. How can we
not participate? Think a little…"
Anes sighed deeply, cutting off her words.
…Why was she so unlucky with her associates?
Her superior was unpredictable, and her junior seemed endlessly foolish.
She must have been crazy to give up the Imperial Administrator position…
Crazy…
The only silver lining was that Belka was Anes's junior. In other words, she
could be controlled.
"If you have any questions, don't act on your own. Go through me, your
senior. Understand?"
"Oh, yes!"
Belka answered energetically for once.
"Anes, you said this bet is really important. Is it okay for us to be here…?"
"Of course not."
"Then why is the Auditor…"
"…He's someone who can't be understood with common sense."
That question was relatively normal.
However.
The next moment.
"Um, Anes, are you senior to the Sun Grass?"
"…?"
An utterly incomprehensible question came.
"I won't respond to nonsense anymore."
"It's not nonsense…"
Belka fidgeted with her fingers.
A moment later.
"Anes… Can I go to the bathroom…?"
"You don't need to ask about that."
Anes unconsciously opened her notebook.
[ The junior is also hopeless. ]
[ Just enjoying the festival seems better. ]
She quickly wrote down the two lines.
Her superior was hopeless, but her junior was even worse. It seemed better
to just continue enjoying the festival inside the estate.
"Um, Anes…"
"Think three times before speaking to me."
Anes abruptly cut off Belka's words.
"Think three times, and if you still think you have to say it, then speak.
Understand?"
"No… It's not that…"
Belka pointed her fingertip towards the estate's wall.
"Isn't that a monster…?"
Grrrrrr!
"…?"
It was real.
"…!"
Like waves over a breakwater, countless monsters were leaping over the
wall.
The two women reflexively started looking for one person.
"W-we need to get the Auditor…!"
"Damn Auditor…!"
The moment the two women turned their heads toward the quarters.
A loud, icy sound resonated.
At the same time, the entire quarters froze white.
An immense cold wave spread throughout the estate.
Step, step.
On the icy ground, Jaekiel walked without slipping, slowly closing the
distance between him and Tirby.
'There's not a single opening. No, it's all openings?'
Jaekiel approached as if he were taking a leisurely walk, but he didn't seem
to be letting his guard down at all.
It was an attitude that could only come from immense self-confidence.
Tirby acknowledged this cleanly. It was an ice technique worthy of such
confidence.
"D-don't come closer."
Tirby gripped the handle of her greatsword tightly. Her wrist was trembling,
something she was experiencing for the first time.
"I said don't come closer!"
Whoosh!
The greatsword drew a near-perfect horizontal arc. Its power was as
immense as the size of its blade.
"…"
But the strike barely missed.
Tirby froze in place.
"…"
However, the reason she froze was different. It wasn't because her strike
had missed its target.
'…He didn't even blink.'
A few strands of Jaekiel's bangs had just been cut and scattered.
It meant the strike had been that close. If the sword had gone a little deeper,
it would have split his skull, causing his brain to splatter everywhere…
…But he didn't even blink an eye.
As if he knew it wouldn't hit him from the beginning. Or as if he knew it
would be a trivial strike even if it did hit.
"Is this all?"
Very calmly, that was the end of his reaction.
He was different from the humans Tirby had faced so far.
Tirby had always been at an advantage in any fight, and victory had been
easy. Humans naturally harbored fear.
…But what if the enemy had no fear?
'That can't be. That can't… '
Tirby gathered the energy of her greatsword.
'Soul Slash.'
It was a technique that gathered the fear of the souls she had collected and
wielded it. Hadn't she gathered countless souls?
─Scary!
─Terrifying!
─Save me!
The souls began to wail.
Rumble.
At the same time, the entire quarters began to shake.
The immense power was clearly felt.
Tirby was sure this strike would do it. It contained the fear of over a
thousand souls. There would be no way to withstand it if all those memories
flooded in at once.
Maybe his brain would even explode.
Step.
The moment Jaekiel took another step forward.
"Haaaa!"
Tirby swung her sword with all her might.
The souls rising from the sword opened their jaws as if to swallow Jaekiel.
And in that fleeting moment, she saw him. Jaekiel stood there without
taking any action.
It will work. It must work.
Boom!
With a loud noise, the four walls of the quarters exploded. The ceiling also
turned to debris and fell like dust.
Soon, when all the debris had cleared…
"…!"
Jaekiel was unharmed.
The greatsword was stuck in the ice that wrapped around his neck like
armor, unable to cut through it. Tirby's eyes grew as if they were about to
pop out.
In all the battles she had fought in her life, had there ever been such an
absurd difference in skill? Tirby had never once imagined such a thing.
Jaekiel spoke calmly.
"A sword that devours fear… interesting."
"H-how…"
"Hey."
Jaekiel said.
"Have you ever thought about your own end?"
"…"
When Tirby couldn't answer, Jaekiel spoke again. His voice was still very
calm.
"Decide how you want to freeze."
"A… A…"
Tirby couldn't continue speaking.
Her mind was completely frozen. She had lived her life never thinking for a
moment that there would be a day when she would face her end.
Then, at some moment.
Jaekiel nodded as if he had seen enough.
"That look on your face right now is suitable for your end."
Her face reflected on the icy ground.
It was filled with extreme fear.
"Aaarrgh!"
Tirby felt immense pain and dropped her sword. The demon sword that
devours fear was now trying to devour her whole.
The reason was obvious.
'I'm… feeling fear? Me?'
You cannot hold the demon sword if you feel fear. The absence of fear was
the minimum requirement to wield this greatsword.
Jaekiel quietly extended his hand.
"Fitting."
With those words, everything in the area froze.
A high-ranking demon.
She died with a look of fear frozen on her face.
"End."