“Well, get going. You don’t want Natsuki Minamiya to catch up to you in a place like this, do you?”
Gazing with satisfaction at Yukina’s distress, Kiriha pointed to a vehicle parked at the rotary: an unobtrusive, navy-blue station wagon. Sitting in the driver’s seat was a man wearing gray work clothes and a hat over his head, not standing out in any way—he was likely a Bureau of Astrology member as well.
As urged by Kiriha, Kojou and Yukina sat in the back of the station wagon. It wasn’t that they trusted the Bureau of Astrology, but they judged that changing locations by car was an effective way to evade Natsuki’s pursuit.
Kiriha sat in the back as well, turning to face Kojou and Yukina. Seeing this, the driver got the station wagon going.
When the station wagon left the train station rotary, Yukina glared at the girl with the traditionally-styled black hair and asked, “You said that the Gigafloat Management Corporation knew from the beginning what was happening at Kannawa Lake?”
“Yes, I did.”
Kiriha, still holding her tripod case as she sat, added a smile as she replied.
“Then,” said Yukina, lowering her eyes as she breathed in, “it was the Lion King Agency’s plan to use Ms. Minamiya to stop senpai from leaving the island?”
“Is there any other sound explanation?” Kiriha answered, smiling in a charming yet teasing manner.
“Perhaps she knows more about this incident than we at the Bureau of Astrology do. You could try meeting Natsuki Minamiya again and ask her.”
Kojou interrupted their conversation and declared, “No need for that. We’ll just go and see for ourselves.”
At that point, Kojou and Yukina hardly needed to ask what Natsuki and the Lion King Agency intended. Whatever the reasons, they meant to obstruct Kojou’s passage to the mainland. Knowing that was plenty.
“I see. Sound reasoning.”
Kiriha raised her eyebrows in an apparent show of praise. She must not have expected Kojou would recover so quickly from the shock of Natsuki’s betrayal.
“But how do you intend to reach the mainland without Natsuki Minamiya’s cooperation?”
“No problem. I still have one idea for getting off the island.”
“The Oceanus Grave II—the cruise ship of Dimitrie Vattler, Duke of Ardeal, yes?”
Kiriha replied first as if she was reading Kojou’s thoughts.
Taken by surprise, Kojou’s mouth twisted; then he sighed and nodded.
Moored at Itogami Harbor, the giant oceanic cruiser Oceanus Grave II was owned by Dimitrie Vattler, a vampire native to the Warlord’s Empire. Vattler bore the title of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, so even Natsuki and the Gigafloat Management Corporation ought to be unable to touch him.
It took about half a day to travel from Itogami Island to the mainland by ferry. Of course, it wouldn’t be as fast as an airplane, but he wasn’t in any position to complain.
“The inside of his ship is sovereign territory, so even the Gigafloat Management Corporation can’t touch us there, right? I’ll get him to take us to the mainland some way or other. To be honest, it’s not an option I really wanted to consider.”
“That method will prove rather…costly.”
“I know that, but there’s no other way, so we’ve gotta do it!” Kojou ground his teeth in visible anguish as he lamented.
The first hurdle was whether Vattler would warmly welcome Kojou’s request or not. He’d certainly run his mouth claiming to offer his love to the Fourth Primogenitor, but at heart, Vattler was a simple combat maniac, a man with few hobbies save lethal duels with powerful foes. Kojou couldn’t even imagine what kind of tortuous compensation a man like that would demand in return.
If it was just picking a fight with Kojou, that’d be one thing, but worst case, the relic of The Cleansing would pique Vattler’s own interest. Kojou didn’t really want to think about it, but the odds of Vattler also landing on the mainland, running rampant any way he pleased, were not zero.
Perhaps Kiriha also grasped that danger, for she shook her head at his words and said, “There may well be another option.”
“Huh?”
Kiriha tendered an envelope right before Kojou’s and Yukina’s surprised eyes. Inside the envelope were documents of various kinds with photos of Kojou’s and Yukina’s faces on them.
“What’s this?”
“The Bureau of Astrology has arranged a private business jet. If you use a civilian corporate airstrip rather than Itogami Central Airport, the formalities to leave the island will be minimal. These are fake IDs and the necessary documentation.”
“…What’s your game here, Kiriha Kisaki? Why are you going this far for us…?” he pressed, more suspicious than he was gracious.
Certainly, the terms were tempting. The Bureau of Astrology was an organization with a long history. Identification cards provided by them were, in effect, as good as the real deal. If they had these, there would no longer be any need to rely on risky plans like stowing away.
Besides, if they had a civilian business jet, it would be far easier for them to move on their own. Even the Gigafloat Management Corporation could not do as it pleased with a civilian aircraft.
However, creating false identity documents and chartering a private jet were undertakings requiring considerable money and resources. Kojou couldn’t come up with a reason why Kiriha and her people would sacrifice so much to get Yukina and him to the mainland.
However, Kiriha somehow seemed delighted as she turned her eyes to Kojou and said, “Would you be dissatisfied if I said ‘Resentment of the Lion King Agency’ and left it at that?”
“Resentment?”
“As you are aware, the Bureau of Astrology and the Lion King Agency have diverging interests. Perhaps it is as they say: Familiarity breeds contempt? But now, the Bureau of Astrology has good reason to confront the Lion King Agency head-on. After all, it still has its tail between its legs from the recent failure at Blue Elysium.”
“…What does that have to do with giving me a hand?”
Kojou knit his brows, bewildered by Kiriha’s lack of a direct reply.
Kiriha sarcastically narrowed her eyes and said, “The Lion King Agency is exceptionally afraid of you paying a visit to Kannawa Lake. How can we not make use of that? It is akin to tossing dirty laundry into the house of a neighbor you do not care for.”
“So you’re treating me like dirty laundry…?!” Kojou growled.
Kiriha giggled and broke into a smile. “Surely, Fourth Primogenitor, it is not a poor arrangement for you. Our interests coincide in this matter. Though, I’m sure she has conflicted feelings as a member of the Lion King Agency.”
Kiriha shook her head a little in a show of pity and shifted her gaze to Yukina.
“Yukina Himeragi. If you wish it, I do not mind if you bow out here and now. I will take over the duty of watching the Fourth Primogenitor.”
“That will not be necessary.”
Yukina easily let the cold, sharp words of the Priestess of the Six Blades wash over her. Oh my, Kiriha seemed to say, with Kojou sensing surprise from her at how Yukina did not hesitate for even a moment.
“Whatever the Lion King Agency has in mind, there has been no change in my assigned mission. Watching the Fourth Primogenitor is my duty.”
“I see… But should you not ask if this is what the Fourth Primogenitor wishes?
“What senpai wishes…?”
“Perhaps this is a harsh way to put it, but am I, with the full support of the Bureau of Astrology, not more useful to him than you, abandoned by the Lion King Agency? Rescuing Nagisa Akatsuki is his top priority, after all?”
“Er…” Yukina bit her lip, unable to refute her.
Setting aside that it was uncertain whether Yukina had been abandoned per se, the fact remained that the Lion King Agency had withheld a great deal of information from her. Of course, Yukina had neither chartered a jet nor arranged false identification for him.
> “Surely you understand who is more suitable to watch over you, Fourth Primogenitor?”
“Uh, this isn’t really about being more suitable or not…” Kojou, suddenly confronted with the matter, seemed conflicted as he looked from one to the other.
While Kojou did so, Kiriha gazed at him with upturned eyes and smiled seductively.
“I forgot to mention this, but appearances notwithstanding, I am actually an F cup.”
“—What? Seriously?!”
Without thinking, Kojou fixed his gaze upon the cleavage of Kiriha’s sailor uniform. Kiriha’s physique was slender, so she really didn’t feel like someone with gravure idol-level breast size.
“Senpai…!”
As Kojou marveled, wondering if her clothes made her chest look smaller than it really was, Yukina shot him a contemptuous glare. Then Kiriha giggled and smiled in visible delight.
“I lied.”
“You were lying?!”
Kojou wailed, feeling exceptionally wounded. For some reason, Yukina was covering her own breasts with a hand as she breathed a sigh of relief. Kiriha made another teasing smile.
“I am sorry to get your hopes up, but my breasts are rather disappointing.”
“Er, it’s not that my hopes were raised, but anyway, I don’t need a babysitter. I can’t trust you very much, for one thing. Besides, this isn’t because Himeragi’s my watcher. She’s cooperating with me ’cause she’s worried about Nagisa.”
“I see… If that is what you believe, do as you like.”
Kiriha gazed with amusement as Yukina’s expression changed in the face of Kojou’s words.
“And for the record, if you had a jet ready to go, you should’ve mentioned that at the start, sheesh. Then we wouldn’t have Natsuki attacking us like that—”
“In that case, would the two of you have believed what I had to say?” Kiriha’s smile oozed with malice while she pressed the matter further. “You are relying on the Bureau of Astrology because Natsuki Minamiya has turned against you. Am I mistaken?”
“You might be right…but that’s because—”
“Yes, a natural judgment. I can understand that much.” Kiriha shrugged as if the matter didn’t concern her.
The Bureau of Astrology she belonged to had attempted to use the living weapon known as Leviathan to sink Itogami Island not even a month before. That had resulted in the Bureau of Astrology’s plans ending in failure, but that fact didn’t make Kojou trust Kiriha and her people 100 percent, either.
This time, Natsuki turning against them had backed them into a corner, forcing them to accept Kiriha’s cooperation. Kiriha surely understood that fact for herself. She was not particularly trying to scold them for it.
“Incidentally, these ID cards… They, uh, list Himeragi and me as husband and wife…?”
Kojou was checking the contents of the envelope handed to him when he posed the question to Kiriha.
According to the forged documents, Kojou was an eighteen-year-old employee at an electrical installation company, and Yukina was his twenty-nine-year-old wife. Granted, Yukina had something of an adult air about her, but he wondered if having her pose as someone pushing thirty was a bit excessive. Somehow, he suspected the age notation was Kiriha’s malice showing through.
“Being treated as an adult is convenient when concealing one’s identity, is it not?”
“Well, you might have a point, but…did you need to make us husband and wife?”
“I was unable to acquire any other suitable fake IDs. You will have to use them to the best of your ability.”
Kiriha had said as much without a hint of ill will, but Kojou still uttered an “Ugh…” and fell into silence. This, too, was no doubt her resentment expressed in a roundabout way, but even so, her Bureau of Astrology was the only thing he could rely on at the moment.
Yukina unexpectedly refrained from speaking a single dissatisfied word—gazing at the ID card treating her as Kojou’s spouse, she didn’t seem all that put off by it.
“So where is this business jet your people arranged?”
Kojou turned his eyes toward the window of the moving station wagon as he asked.
“Island North’s industrial airport.”
“There, huh…?” Kojou grimaced.
The industrial airport in Island North was one of Itogami Island’s five civilian airstrips. Kojou had used it once before, but he didn’t have very good memories of it. At the time, the aircraft he flew on wound up stranding him on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean.
Thus, Kojou wasn’t particularly surprised when he saw Yukina’s face abruptly freeze over.
He was sure it was the fear of that time coming back to her, but—
“Stop! Stop the car, quickly—”
Yukina leaned forward and shouted at the driver, but the eerie presence made Kiriha react immediately as well. The two were staring at the space above the road—a straight coastal road with little in the way of traffic.
“Huh?!”
The driver was perplexed. He did as he was told, stepping on the brakes and pulling the station wagon toward the road’s shoulder. His hand was reaching for the hazard light—all natural actions for him to take.
A moment later, slender silver chains were spat out from thin air, forming a giant net before them. The navy-blue station wagon was unable to reduce its speed enough to avoid plunging straight into the net and being ensnared within.
“A-aaaagh?!”
The front window finely cracked. The driver let out a cry as he became buried in a deployed airbag.
But Kiriha was in motion before that.
With a single palm strike, she pounded down the station wagon’s hatch behind Kojou and the others with incredible force. The hatch blew off, giving Kojou and the rest an open path to the rear.
“Th-the hell?!”
Kojou, frozen in shock, had Yukina firmly gripping his right arm and Kiriha firmly gripping his left. The two dragged Kojou with them as they leaped out of the still-moving vehicle.
Considering their antagonistic relationship, it was unthinkably splendid teamwork. Even if Kiriha was part of a different organization—a Priestess of the Six Blades, also known as the Black Sword Shaman—Yukina and Kiriha employed the very same martial art.
“Uooooooo?!”
In contrast to the steady landings of Yukina and Kiriha, Kojou’s momentum from jumping out of the car sent him rolling on the ground back first. But had they not leaped, Kojou and the others would already have found themselves pulled into the net of silver chains, wagon and all.
“I told you I could not let you go, Kojou Akatsuki.”
Kojou and the others trembled when they heard a powerful voice above them.
As the station wagon was suspended in thin air, a woman with a parasol and an extravagant dress landed on its roof without a sound. She, blessed with a beautiful face reminiscent of a doll, gazed emotionlessly down at Kojou and the others.
“Natsuki…!”
Dumbfounded and groaning in pain, Kojou uttered the name of the witch shrouded in black magical energy.
However, Natsuki no longer had words to spare.
Instead of warnings, she shot out a barrage of silver chains, raining down like countless spears.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE WITCH OF THE VOID
1
Silver sparks buried the midday sky.
A high-pitched roar reminiscent of a scream made Kojou’s eardrums tremble. Metal clashed against metal, creating a ragged sound that resembled the atmosphere of the battlefield itself.
With Snowdrift Wolf, Yukina knocked down the countless chains Natsuki loosed from the void.
“Leap, Fourth Primogenitor!”
“Wh-whoa!!”
Yukina alone could not fend off all of Natsuki’s attacks—Kiriha judged as much in an instant, pushing Kojou’s back and sending him flying. Kojou sailed over the edge of the concrete curb and slid down to the sandy beach below.
Leaping after Kojou, Kiriha drew her own spear from her tripod case. The shaft slid and lengthened, its twin prongs entwined in a spiral until they spun and deployed, becoming like the tines of a tuning fork. With her gray, forked spear thus emerged, Kiriha struck back against new chains aimed at Kojou.
Natsuki employed a teleportation spell to appear in front of Kojou and Kiriha. Yukina leaped after her, landing on the sandy beach. The three on Kojou’s side faced off against Natsuki atop white resin-made sand spread over an artificial coast.
“I see… You did not allow Kojou Akatsuki to escape. You waited for him to move to a place away from prying eyes. Is that not so, Witch of the Void?”
Forked spear poised, Kiriha gazed at Natsuki with a sullen look. She’d gone as far as arranging a getaway car to cover their tracks, but in the end, she had only played into Natsuki’s hands. From Kiriha’s point of view, that had to be a significant dent to her pride.
“Correct, little girl. If that idiot ran riot inside the city, it would be more trouble after the fact.”
Natsuki replied in an apathetic voice. She seemed to barely acknowledge Kiriha’s existence. This got on the Black Sword Shaman’s nerves even more.
“Ugh,” Yukina groaned, gripping her spear with added strength, but even she did nothing reckless like attempting to cut Natsuki down. Of course, Yukina knew full well that Natsuki’s words were only taunts.
“You said you couldn’t let me leave Itogami Island, didn’t you…?”
Instead, it was Kojou who murmured to her in a low voice.
Kojou clenched a fist as faint rage coursed through his entire body. Naturally, her chasing him this far meant Kojou had no choice but to harden his resolve as well. If Natsuki seriously meant to stop him, Kojou had to fight her, too.
“Is that why, Natsuki?! You wanna fight me, for that?!”
“Do not address your teacher by her first name, fool.”
Natsuki dipped the tip of her still-folded fan in Kojou’s direction. That instant, an incredible impact assailed Kojou’s forehead. The Fourth Primogenitor, feeling fierce pain as if he’d been struck with an iron maul, staggered and fell to one knee.
The Fugitive Fourth Primogenitor Page 12
