Golden Days

by Gakuto Mikumo

  “H-he definitely is. But this sense of dignity is most certainly that of the royal class…,” Yukina answered, though she sounded unsure.

  “More like, what’s the prince of the Second Primogenitor doing eating in a ramen shop with Asagi’s friend anyway?”

  “Though I am reluctant in the matter, I happened to cross paths with this girl as she was about to be killed. I have taken her under my protection as a result. Well, on a whim,” Iblisveil replied while sipping the last of the soup from his bowl.

  “About to be killed?”

  The prince’s inauspicious words brought a grave look from Kojou.

  “Indeed,” said Lydianne in a shaky voice. Large tears were streaming down her cheeks. “’Twas the Gigafloat Management Corporation. As they dost have Lady Empress confined within Keystone Gate, I attempted to penetrate their defenses and contact her, but alas…”

  Lydianne gripped both hands together, as if desperately holding her regret in check.

  Kojou gently placed his own palms over her tiny fists. Lydianne lifted up her face in visible surprise. With a look of rare seriousness, Kojou gazed into the little girl’s eyes and made his request:

  “Tell me everything.”

  5

  Forty minutes later…

  Kojou and the others were standing in the entryway to an underground passage quite close to the center of Itogami Island. The passage headed downward to become a long tunnel. It was a drainage route to expel rain coursing under the artificial isle’s surface out to the sea.

  However, this was merely its intended function. In truth, the underground tunnel had another purpose.

  This was the supply intake route for the secret area placed in Keystone Gate—Stratum Zero. That was the original use of the rusted tunnel.

  “Keystone Gate’s Stratum Zero? And that’s where Asagi’s locked up?”

  Kojou peered into the eerie, unlit tunnel as he double-checked with Lydianne.

  “Indeed it is. I shalt issue directions until thou arriveth at Stratum Zero.”

  The girl’s voice was coursing from the speaker of Kojou’s smartphone. Lydianne herself was piloting the nearly wrecked crimson micro-robot tank. Hizamaru had been woefully stripped of combat potential, having lost one of its front legs and most of its weapons, but its onboard military computer and network capabilities were still intact. And Lydianne herself was apparently a genius hacker rivaling even Asagi. Having a girl like that support Kojou and Yukina’s infiltration was pretty reassuring.

  “That’s a big help…but we’re takin’ on the people who busted up your tank that much, huh…?”

  Kojou cast a mournful glance at Lydianne’s beat-up tank, an expression coming over him as if he could say no more. Even if it was compact, Hizamaru was a proper tank for anti-demon warfare—and a cutting-edge, experimental model at that. This meant whoever trashed it had more combat potential than a hyper-advanced tank. These were the kinds of people protecting Stratum Zero of Keystone Gate.

  “Are you gonna be okay after helping us like this? If you get attacked by the Island Guard—”

  Kojou looked up at the half-wrecked robot tank with visible concern. Currently, Hizamaru had no strength left to fight. Furthermore, without Hizamaru, Lydianne was just an elementary schooler. Pitted against the Island Guard, she probably wouldn’t even be able to flee.

  Can we really ask her to help if it’ll expose her to that much danger…? Such were Kojou’s gloomy thoughts when Iblisveil, gazing at him in mild exasperation, made a cold declaration:

  “Do not fret, Kojou Akatsuki. I shall look after the girl until this situation is dealth with.”

  “Huh…?”

  The unexpected offer from the prince of a foreign land left Kojou wide-eyed. It was a shock for the overbearing, arrogant vampire to say something out of apparent consideration for Kojou.

  “You’re seriously okay with that?”

  “Hmph. It would not be unwise for me to place you in my debt. In addition, my retainers should be arriving on Itogami Island any time now. Besides, I too hold some interest in the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s scheme.”

  “That so…?”

  The self-centeredness of Iblisveil’s statements actually put Kojou more at ease.

  “Well, thanks for that, but don’t go overboard, please?”

  “You’re one to talk… But so be it. I shall take those words to heart.”

  “Please and thank you.”

  Entrusting the foreign prince with Tanker, Kojou walked toward the dark underground passage. Following apace was Yukina.

  She was acting like accompanying him was the most natural thing in the world. Partially annoyed, Kojou looked up at her face and said, “Himeragi, you wait here, too. You’re not at 100 percent, right? I mean, your body—”

  “There is nothing wrong with my body,” she retorted, glaring. The sheer force of it overwhelmed Kojou for a moment.

  “Um, but—”

  “If I say I’m fine, then I’m fine! I’m your watcher, senpai, so of course I’ll accompany you. Or is it a problem for me to be with you when you meet Aiba?”

  “How’d you get that idea?!” exclaimed Kojou. “I’m just worried about you—”

  “Worried?” said Yukina, her temple twitching visibly. “In other words, you’re worried that I’ll slow you down?”

  “Uh… No, I mean, that’s not what I meant…”

  “Understood. That’s fine, then.”

  Lips twisted in a visible pout, Yukina averted her eyes from Kojou.

  So she does get it, thought Kojou, patting his chest in relief as he walked out into the underground passage once more.

  But right behind Kojou, he could hear the sound of light footsteps following him.

  “—Wait, you’re still following, aren’t you?!”

  “It is not that I am following behind you, senpai. You simply happen to be walking ahead of me. That is all.”

  “Are we back in elementary school?!”

  As Yukina made a stare that was sullen even for her, Kojou sighed in resignation. It was probably futile to argue with her any further. Whatever Kojou might say, Yukina would continue to follow.

  “I get it. It’s fine… Please continue accompanying me, Miss Himeragi.”

  “You should have said that from the beginning.”

  When she saw Kojou robotically bow his head, Yukina dipped her chin in apparent satisfaction. Laughing weakly at his own expense, Kojou shook his head and said, “Yeah, yeah. So, shall we?”

  “Yes.”

  The guitar case on Yukina’s back swayed as she walked with a spring in her step.

  As they traveled farther along the passageway and down a set of stairs, they found that it extended into a large, long, underground tunnel. Its diameter was four to five meters. A rail track for supplies was lying on the floor, and the walls and ceilings were covered in electrical and fiber-optic cables that looked like arteries. The sight made Kojou think less of a water runoff than the innards of a living creature.

  “Hey, Himeragi…whaddaya think about what Lydianne was saying earlier?”

  As he spoke those words, Kojou offered a hand to Yukina. Thanks to the cover story of being a water runoff, the interior of the tunnel was completely unlit. Yukina, possessing Spirit Sight, could see pretty well in the dark by human standards, but still not as well as the vampiric Kojou. Perhaps Yukina herself was tentatively aware of that, for she made no complaint as she readily accepted his hand. Kojou felt like Yukina’s cheeks had faintly reddened, but of course even a vampire’s sight could not confirm such a thing within the darkness.

  “You mean, about Itogami Island being an altar for the advent of Cain, the Sinful God?” Yukina replied in a sober, serious tone.

  Lydianne had stated that the existence of Cain, the Sinful God, was why Asagi had been incarcerated in Stratum Zero. Also, that Itogami Island was designed as a giant sorcerous device for the ritual to revive Cain, and that Asagi was the irreplaceable prie
stess medium for that ritual…

  “It is not very believable, and yet, it does allow several pieces to fall into place…”

  “Yeah…and wasn’t there a guy who called Asagi the Priestess of Cain?”

  “Yes, Meiga Itogami, the fugitive from the Prison Barrier…”

  Subconsciously, Yukina tightened her grip on Kojou’s hand.

  Meiga Itogami was a sorcerous, calculating criminal who had been incarcerated in the otherworldly Prison Barrier through Natsuki Minamiya’s power. Yukina had apparently encountered the man when Kojou was fighting the Third Primogenitor, Giada Kukulkin. Apparently, she’d somehow driven him off, but he’d heard it was a pretty gritty, hard-fought affair.

  “I don’t know much about him. Who is he?”

  Kojou asked Yukina, who seemed doubtful.

  She shook her head slightly and said:

  “I don’t know. It is just that he carries a black spear that greatly resembles my Snowdrift Wolf. He said the spear is a discontinued weapon of the Lion King Agency that annihilates demonic and ritual energy alike.”

  “A black spear that annihilates demonic and ritual energy? Hold on. Don’t tell me that weapon is—”

  Kojou’s feet came to an immediate stop. A weapon that struck and erased all supernatural abilities—Kojou was well aware of a group who used similar sorcerous objects. They, calling themselves the Cleansers, hadn’t desired the revival of Cain, the Sinful God, but—

  “Sir Boyfriend!”

  In his shaken state, Kojou noticed Lydianne’s voice coming from his chest. A map of the underground tunnel was displayed on the smartphone screen. Red dots were popping up all over the map.

  “What’s wrong, Lydianne? What are these dots?”

  “Warnings. Activation of defensive machines confirmed.”

  “Defensive machines…?! The hell? Weren’t you gonna deal with surveillance cameras and alarms?”

  “The underground tunnel likely has a completely autonomous defense system. Alas, even I cannot touch it—”

  “So that’s what it is…!”

  Kojou subconsciously clenched his teeth. If he couldn’t count on Lydianne’s hacking, that left only the option of breaking through by force.

  Some things were using the rail laid down in the underground tunnel to seemingly glide closer to Kojou and Yukina. They looked like metal cylinders, like wastebaskets with the backs turned toward them.

  They were smaller than Kojou had first thought. The diameter of one was eighteen centimeters at the most. They probably stood at a hundred and twenty centimeters or so. The way their eyelike lenses darted to and fro seemed comical, even adorable.

  However, the bellies of the wastebaskets had equipment attached that was not adorable in the slightest. Each was outfitted with an antipersonnel machine gun.

  And without bothering to confirm Kojou’s or Yukina’s identities, the horde of wastebaskets opened fire.

  “Senpai!”

  Yukina yanked Kojou by his shirt. “Agh!” Kojou exclaimed, arching back as a bullet grazed the tip of his nose. Kojou’s and Yukina’s bodies were practically entangled as they hid in the shadow of a pillar. Sparks scattered off the concrete as bullets peppered the other side without end.

  “They just started shooting outta nowhere?! They’re not defense machines, they’re killbots!”

  Kojou shouted his complaints into the smartphone he clenched in his hand. He knew it wasn’t Lydianne’s fault, but it was the only way he could maintain his sanity.

  “These art MAR-manufactured security pods, armed with anti-demon small-caliber machine guns and tear gas, for military use by rights. Sir Boyfriend, I wish you good fortune in battle.”

  “Good fortune in battle, my ass!” he shouted fervently at the irresponsible statement.

  Of course, if Kojou summoned a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor, any number of security pods would no longer be a threat. Even if several hundred of them attacked him at once, he would be able to wipe the floor with them in an instant.

  However, if he summoned a Beast Vassal in such cramped quarters, he’d destroy the underground tunnel for sure. If he really messed up, Kojou and Yukina would be buried alive. And in the absolute worst-case scenario, there was a danger of wiping Keystone Gate itself off the map. The overpowered Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor were, for all intents and purposes, useless more often than not.

  “Hey…I’m just double-checking, but…there aren’t people riding in those things, right?”

  “I can say, with certainty, that there aren’t. But…why do you ask, Sir Boyfriend?”

  Perhaps alarm crept into Lydianne’s voice because she sensed the intent behind his words. Yukina gasped, glaring at Kojou within the darkness as she cautioned, “Senpai, please wait. What in the world are you—?”

  “Sorry, Himeragi. Hold this for me, would ya?”

  Kojou tossed the smartphone—with Lydianne still on the line—to Yukina. Then, he glared at the security pods, still firing at them, through gaps in the pillar. And as he did so, abnormally dense demonic energy was leaking out of Kojou’s entire body. Like mist, it wrapped around him all over, finally transforming into a pale lightning bolt.

  “Senpai…?!”

  Yukina’s eyes opened wide in fright.

  Kojou was not summoning a Beast Vassal; he was only drawing out the Beast Vassal’s demonic energy. He was controlling the power of the Fourth Primogenitor of his own will. This was a feat made possible because Kojou’s control rights over his Beast Vassals had been strengthened.

  Still, this was irrefutable proof that Kojou’s body slowly but surely was nearing that of a complete vampire.

  “Raaaaaaaagh—!!”

  With a roar, Kojou unleashed the demonic power. A pure-white beam illuminated the underground tunnel, making it as bright as day. The resulting shock wave scattering lightning indiscriminately, mowing down the horde of security pods.

  It was over in an instant.

  Dozens of military security pods had been blown away without a trace, after which nothing remained but darkness and tranquility.

  Yukina viewed the spectacle in stunned silence.

  “Had to ram ’em, but it worked out somehow…”

  Kojou’s breath was ragged, and he fell to one knee atop concrete that had been shattered by the impact. Thanks to his unconventional use of demonic power, every bone and muscle in his body screamed in agony. Even a small cough sent pain coursing through him like an electrical jolt. It was so rough that he could barely raise his voice.

  And with Kojou unable to move, Yukina looked down at him, her shoulders trembling.

  Her eyes were aflame with anger.

  “Why do you always have to…do such reckless things…?”

  “W-wait, Himeragi… Calm down! If you hit me right now, I’ll cry! Seriously! I’ll cry!”

  “…Haaah.”

  Glaring at the now teary-eyed Kojou, Yukina sighed, seemingly deflated. She then crouched down and gently stroked Kojou’s back as if she were comforting a weak puppy.

  However, as Kojou hung his head, it was during this brief moment of respite that he heard Lydianne’s voice delivering the coup de grâce.

  “Sir Boyfriend… I am deeply reluctant to say this, but what shall you do about the monetary compensation? Those security pods may look cheap, but each one costs roughly twenty million yen to manufacture. A rather considerable sum.”

  “Hold on… Repair costs are on me?! That was justifiable self-defense!” Kojou yelled, instantly forgetting the searing pain plaguing his body. Having to shoulder the cost of repair after being shot at without warning was just too unreasonable.

  “But, all things considered, we art trespassing, therefore…”

  When Lydianne calmly pointed out the detail he’d been neglecting in his argument, Kojou groaned, his words catching in his throat.

  “Shiiit… If I don’t find some kind of proof that Asagi’s being held captive, I’m a criminal?!”

 
; “I would strongly suggest that you make haste. ’Tis possible our intrusion hath been detected.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I get it!”

  Borrowing Yukina’s shoulder, Kojou wobbled as he rose to his feet. The pleasant scent of Yukina’s hair tickled Kojou’s nostrils, but he couldn’t afford to focus on that at the moment. According to the map displayed on the smartphone, they were nearing their destination: Stratum Zero. The distance was such that Kojou could reach it without difficulty, even with his stamina all but depleted.

  Fortunately, Lydianne had apparently disarmed all anti-intrusion measures aside from the security pods. Kojou and Yukina arrived at the endpoint of the underground tunnel less than five minutes later.

  “This is…Stratum Zero…?”

  Kojou came to a halt, bewildered as he surveyed the scene before him.

  All he could see was a big, empty room.

  The endpoint of the underground tunnel contained nothing whatsoever. More accurately, it was no more than an empty cavern.

  It was a cylindrical space with a diameter of ten meters or so, and a depth of about fifteen meters.

  This was the truth of the place called Stratum Zero.

  Towering before them was a vertical wall built of sturdy-looking metal. The exterior wall had no doors or seams or even handholds for climbing. It was a completely sterile room without a single speck of dust.

  It was a place that seemed to have no use whatsoever, save perhaps as a reservoir.

  And so, Kojou and Yukina arrived at the bottom of that giant, empty hole.

  At any rate, there could been no doubt that Kojou and Yukina had arrived at the right place.

  After all, someone had gotten there before them. In the center of the enormous, hollow cylinder, a young man wearing a black martial arts outfit had arrived to await the two of them.

  The young man was gripping a pitch-black spear. It was long and twisted, with tips on both ends.

  “So you’ve come at last, Fourth Primogenitor.”

  Slowly shifting his gaze toward Kojou, the young man spoke gently.

  Kojou knew the young man’s name. He’d met him only once, on Harrowing Festival Day when the Prison Barrier was broken. He was the last of the seven sorcerous criminals who had escaped that day.