CH 143

Chapter 143

When Peaceful Times Cease To Exist : A Name That Calls Death, Part 15 — Relief, Separation, and

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

「That took a while.」

「?」

Just as Lifeless couldn’t conspire the meaning of Alfiris’ words, the arm that was holding Miranda was cut off. And when Lifeless reflexively turned in that direction, there was a woman, holding Miranda in her arms.

At the same time, the woman threw something at Lifeless, and the whole area was enveloped in a dazzling light.

「What was that!?」

「Is this… a light bomb?」

At the same time as Lifeless, Alfiris and others were also blinded. However, when Lifeless was the first to regain his vision, Alfiris and the others had already retreated to Nia’s position.

「Who the hell are you, people?」

The Kunoichi, however, didn’t pay attention to Lifeless’ words, and each of them looks at each other.

「Now, as we discussed.」

「Miranda-sama, Alfiris-dono, we are escaping. Please come this way. Kaede, take care of the rest.」

「Understood.」

The Kunoichi begin to ignore Lifeless. Lifeless was again taken aback by this development, but so was Miranda, who couldn’t keep up with it. She looks at the Kunoichi and the others with a blank expression on her face.

「…You, who are you?」

「Miranda, the explanation won’t escape. Aery, Fenna, can you two run?」

Aerial and Fenna stand up at the sound of Alfiris’ voice, though they are staggering. Aerial is wounded in the listening hand and the remaining hand is also hurt, but this isn’t the time to talk about it. Fenna also stood up, holding her stomach where Lifeless had hit her. And apparently it was Alfiris who knew most accurately the current situation.

「Somewhat, I’m alright.」

「Me too… I can move.」

「Great. I’m the worst magician in the world, so I’d like to keep my hands free. Aery, collect the horses and bring them to me. Miranda, take care of Nia.」

「G–Got it.」

「The rest of you can run, right? Then can you lead the way?」

Alfiris quickly sends out instructions to the Kunoichi, who nods silently and begins to lead the way. Behind Alfiris and the others, the remaining Kunoichi and Lifeless were confronting each other.

「Hey, you’re not going to leave me stranded here all by myself, are you?」

「Is that alright?」

Kunoichi replies. She’s not very tall yet, and her body is still in the shape of a child. Although her expression was masked, it was probably a girl. The Kunoichi continues to speak.

「In fact, I think I could defeat you by myself.」

「…You’re a little girl who says interesting things even as a provocation. Very well, I will deal with you. But!」

Lifeless intensifies the tone of his speech.

「If you’re a trivial person, I will torture you more than ever before and then kill you.」

「Don’t worry, I will meet your expectations. I’ll leave you to it.」

The kunoichi girl covered her eyes with her left hand. Lifeless wondered for a moment what she was doing, but when he looked into the girl’s eyes again, he saw that they had been brown and were now burning red.

「Magical Eyes, huh!」

「Burn…!」

At the same time that Lifeless recognized the magic eye, his body was quickly engulfed in full-body flames. Lifeless shot an unchanted ice short spell at himself, but he couldn’t even slightly suppress the momentum of the flames.

「（Not an ordinary flame?）」

By the time Lifeless realizes it, it is already too late, and the flames cling to his limbs as if they were fetters, holding him captive. Then, while chained by the flames, Lifeless is enveloped by the flames used by the girl.

「（Tch. I can’t use magic and I’m stuck!）」

「Remain quiet as you are. Until I run out of power.」

「（Is this what you wanted from the start?）」

As Lifeless imagined, the girl deliberately provoked Lifeless into a fight. She pretended to be ready for a head-to-head fight and succeeded in outwitting him.

If the Kunoichi hadn’t been a girl, if he hadn’t dared to make cheap provocations, if Lifeless’ consciousness hadn’t been heightened by his fight with Alfiris and if he had been calm. This situation might not have happened.

But, however.

「（How long can you keep it this way?）」

The flames had enveloped Lifeless and his voice weren’t heard, but the girl knew that.

＊＊＊

Then, Alfiris and the others flee. On the way, Miranda asks the Kunoichi a question.

「Let’s hear you explain who you are.」

「We are the Mouthless who are assigned by Miliazar-sama to watch and guard Miranda-sama. I am Azusa, this is Kikyō, and the one who isolated him is Kaede.」

Kunoichi explains while running.

「Surveillance?」

「I say “surveillance” because she was concerned for Miranda-sama’s safety. If there’s something wrong with Miranda-sama, we’re obligated to help you quietly from the shadows. We should’ve helped you earlier, but we were told not to let our presence be noticed, so we kept a watchful eye on you from a distance, and that was a mistake. We were so disappointed when we realized that we had been divided by the wards. No matter how much we apologize, it is not enough.」

「…It must be Lisa’s fault.」

Before Miranda can say anything, Lisa answers. Azusa affirms her words with her eyes.

「I am sorry to have to tell you this, but… due to the recent improvement in Lisa-dono’s sensor capabilities, we have been unable to escort you nearby. In hindsight, I think it would’ve been the right thing to do to consult with Lisa-dono alone, but it’s already too late. Please forgive us.」

「It’s not your fault. In fact, we’re grateful for the opportunity to escape now.」

Miranda soothed Azusa and Kikyō. Azusa’s face relaxes for a moment at her words.

「If you say so, Hinata will be rewarded for her efforts.」

「What do you mean?」

But that Miranda question is quickly resolved. The wards, powerful enough to be visualized, stood like a wall, but there was a hole in one corner. Beyond them, a woman is sitting upright in the midst of a camp set up by a dialectic. Furthermore…

「What the hell is that?」

「I see. The law of death.」

「Your assumptions are correct.」

Miranda didn’t know what the woman was doing for a moment, but Alfiris knew immediately. The woman had pierced herself through her belly. Her hands are still slowly but continually ripping across her belly. It’s a method of death, a method that costs one’s life force. There are many magic arts, not just dialectic arts, that require a person’s own life force to be sacrificed. This is also the case with the spell mark applied to Alfiris herself.

After breaking through the warding through the hole, Alfiris and the Kunoichi ran up to the woman. Then Azusa called out to the woman.

「Great work, Hinata. Now you just have to make it last until Kaede retreats.」

At these words, the woman called Hinata slowly looked up and nodded slightly. The light was nearly gone from her eyes, and blood dripped gurgling from her mouth. She will probably die soon. Seeing this, Miranda took a bite out of Azusa.

「You! What the hell did you make your people do!」

「…It was an unavoidable measure. We couldn’t just sit on our hands like that, and there was a possibility that time wouldn’t be enough to take other measures. It is not our lives that should be prioritized, but yours.」

「There is no such thing as a “better” or “worse” life!」

Miranda grabbed Azusa by the chest. Azusa, however, didn’t resist, but stared back at Miranda with her body half in the air.

「No, there is. Our lives are lighter than the feathers of a waterfowl. Our deaths may not affect many people, but you are not one of them. I hope you are more aware of that.」

「You’re still saying that!」

「…But because you are such a person, we are also rewarded. I am glad to hear you say that, Miranda-sama.」

Hearing Azusa’s words, Miranda removed her hand without any effort. No matter what Miranda said, the fate of this Hinata woman would no longer change. And neither will what the “Mouthless” will do. It was precisely because Miranda could understand this fact, and precisely because the Mouthless had feelings, that Miranda felt frustrated with herself for not being able to do anything about it.

Alfiris puts her hand on Miranda’s shoulder.

「Miranda, if we don’t want to let Hinata’s death be in vain, all we have to do now is make sure we get away and stretch. Let’s get out of here.」

「…I know, I know that well, but… I’m not very good at this kind of thing…」

Miranda nods. Silence enveloped the group for a bit, but that opening wasn’t good. Lisa was the first to notice the hand extending from Miranda’s shadow.

「Miranda!」

「Eh?」

「I won’t let you escape…」

Aerial strikes off the hand, and a shadow takes shape as it is played. It was Elrich.

「By order of Lifeless-sama, I cannot let you escape…」

「You got me, you skeleton!」

「Don’t worry, Miranda. If he’s like this, my magic can—— Guuohh!?」

Just as Alfiris is about to chant a spell, a low moan escapes her. And then Alfiris cowered, holding her right arm as it was.

「Alfie, what’s wrong!」

「Awww, uuugghhh.」

When Miranda left Nia with Aerial and ran over, she saw that the curse mark on Alfiris’ right arm had begun to wriggle and spread in a strange way. Before, the density was not great, even on the entire surface of her arm. At best, she had a letter carved into his arm. Now, however, the Curse Mark was encroaching on Alfiris’ upper arm at such a rate that it almost obscured the original color of her skin.

「What is this?」

「My arm… My arm hurts, Miranda. Aaaaahhh!!」

Alfiris screamed even though she was in the middle of a fight. Miranda knows that Alfiris is patient despite her usual demeanor, so she knew immediately that this was a big deal. Miranda looks back at Azusa with tremendous intensity and asks for a favor with the utmost seriousness.

「I’m sorry, Azusa. I know I said all that earlier, but can you help us to escape?」

「You command us to do as you please. You will spare our lives.」

「Then that’s an order. You mustn’t die while letting us go, as long as you can. If you’re going to die, do it after you come back to me. I won’t allow you to die on your own.」

「I’ll make an effort.」

Miranda backs away with Alfiris in her arms. The thought of Elrich avenging her lover was no longer in her mind. Then Azusa and Kikyō confront Elrich.

「You think I’m going to let you go?」

「No, we’ll let them go.」

Each of them would then slowly pause, but Fenna suddenly noticed that the spirits of the earth were rustling.

「（This buzzing is an earthquake… no, very strong magic?）」

Soon after, everyone else notices the shaking ground.

「What is this, an earthquake?」

「This is… not good!」

The moment Fenna shouts and pushes Miranda away, the ground rises violently and the ground on which Fenna and Elrich were standing is turned up.

「Kuuh!?」

Elrich, too, was caught in a falsehood, and he was too busy defending himself reflexively. And then,

「Kyaaah!」

「Fenna!」

「Fenna-san!」

Kazas, who was nearest try to reach out to Fenna, but he, too, was swallowed by the rising ground.

「Uwaah!」

「Kazas!」

「No, we can’t, retreat!」

At the moment Azusa shouted, an army of Seekers appeared with a scream.

「Uuooooggghhh!!!」

「Save Cesari-sama!」

「Slay all enemies!」

Their eyes are bloodshot and angry. Even from a distance, anyone could see that they had no regard for each other now. Miranda tried to do something to help Fenna, but she realized that there wasn’t even time for that.

「Shit! Aerial, pull back!」

「I’m already doing it!」

Aerial was quick to soothe the horses, who were frightened by the magic, and urged everyone on top of them. Miranda follows suit. Then, as she mounted her horse, she shouted in the direction where Fenna and Kazas would be.

「Fenna! I’ll save you, just don’t die!」

Then they kicked the horse in the stomach and left the place, Miranda and her friends.

After they left, the ground where Alfiris and the others had been just a few moments before completely turned up, and the sun was also swallowed by the cracks in the ground. Elrich managed to evade, but when he saw the Seekers swarming him en masse, he said,「Outnumbered?」and disappeared. The hole in the warding had disappeared as the sun was swallowed by the ground, but the warding from Lifeless had also disappeared because of the deformation of the ground.

The Seekers, now unobstructed, rushed to Lifeless.