Facts and Lies (2)
By the time Siina's crying subsided, Kuan had lost consciousness and collapsed onto her.
"Kuan."
She checked him with a startled look; fortunately, his heart was still beating.
Shirone asked, "Teacher, what happened?" Siina, who had been lost in thought, spoke up.
"The vanguard was annihilated. And Kuan… I think he gave something up for me."
She turned to Shirone.
"We can't go to the cathedral like this. I want to take care of Kuan for a while. Is that all right?"
"...Yes."
Shirone also felt Kuan shouldn't remain on the battlefield any longer.
"Don't worry too much. Kuan is strong. He'll definitely come back."
Shirone had no idea how Siina could be so sure, but she nodded.
"Yes. I'll never give up. Kuan will come back to me, no matter what."
The Blade Ghost left the battlefield.
Outside Delta's main office, the plaza had been noisy since morning with the citizens' demonstrations.
"Gis, step down!"
"Follow Shirone's will! Yahweh also condemns Gis' injustice!"
Because his name had been mentioned in a news article, Shirone had also risen to fame.
The voices of nearly six hundred people carried through the garden and up to Delta's main office.
"Haah."
A man staring out from an office in the neutral zone sighed.
His name was Raymond.
He was Gis' political rival and the one who'd conspired with Arakne to lay the trap.
'The citizens' cries tear at the heart. How do we change this filthy country?'
Thinking of the political mission he had to accomplish made his eyes sting.
"Raymond." Pedra, Arakne's prime minister, entered while the escort knights remained on guard.
"Oh—you're here."
Raymond hastily wiped his tears, but he couldn't hide them from Pedra.
"You must be worried."
"Of course. So many people are worried about the Jaive Kingdom's future. I feel…responsible, so I can't be at ease."
"Don't think that way. Isn't this all to make a better world? You're doing fine."
"Fuu."
Raymond sighed. Pedra patted his shoulder and pointed to a door.
"Come with me. Nothing beats exercise for stress. Sweating is the best."
"Shall we?"
Pedra led Raymond to the deepest part of the Arakne sector.
A beautiful middle-aged woman greeted them.
"Welcome."
She was the leader of Arakne's think tank, Yo-eumbang, who made heavy use of her looks as a tool.
"Prepare something quiet."
"Understood."
While Raymond's escorts guarded the door, the two entered a private room.
Two women were bound to a rack.
"Today I'll win."
When Pedra picked up a whip, Raymond did the same, feeling the leather between his fingers.
It was called the Crying Game. The rules were simple.
Each took a turn whipping the woman tied to the rack; whoever made her scream first won.
Pedra struck first. A sharp gust and the sound of skin tearing followed.
"Ughhh!"
The woman stifled her scream.
If she shrieked aloud, they'd do something far worse to her.
Raymond cracked his whip.
"Gis!"
The woman's back arched like a bow.
"You think someone like you should rule? You'd ruin Jaive! Do you even know how much the citizens suffer? Huh? They're shedding tears of blood right now!"
When Pedra's turn ended and Raymond went again, a wet crack echoed.
"Ooh."
Habitz, crouched in the corner eating a snack, opened his eyes wide.
"That was good."
He came here whenever he was bored and watched as if at a sporting match.
"An equal world! Huh? Only I can create an equal world!"
Habitz's eyes went hollow.
'Will people call that a contradiction?'
Humans.
'No. This is humanity.' The monster of self-justification.
'They arm themselves with every logic they can imagine. Morality, conscience…to some, they might be truth.'
'But in truth that's also self-justification to hide weakness. The strong have no conscience.'
Humans.
'If they can do it and it costs them nothing, they'll do anything.'
Raymond put everything into it.
"For Jaive!"
Where blood flowed and another lash landed, the woman's mouth finally opened.
"Kyaaah!"
Pedra tossed aside her whip and applauded.
"Bravo! That's a record, isn't it?"
"Ha! Ha!"
She placed a hand on Raymond's panting shoulder and smiled.
"Feel any better?"
"Phew! Yes. Sweating makes me feel much better. Thank you for the entertainment."
"This is my line of work. Say the word anytime. And this woman...?"
Pedra cut the rope of the woman who had screamed; she collapsed to the floor like a corpse.
"Dispose of her anyway, so take her with you. Yo-eumbang will handle the cleanup."
"How pitiful. Can't she be saved?"
"No. Exceptions ruin the game. Systems are systems, you know?"
"Indeed."
"Get some rest today. We set the trap well—Gis won't get away. Now peace will come to Jaive. Under King Raymond's rule."
Raymond's chest swelled.
"It's all thanks to you, Prime Minister. If I become king, I'll never forget today."
"Enjoy it. Savor it."
When Pedra gestured, Yo-eumbang's members hauled the woman into a back room.
"All right then."
Raymond hurried after them, offering only a half-hearted farewell.
Pedra clicked her tongue.
'Anyway… the brain is like a child. Expose it to a certain pleasure and it forgets lesser ones.'
'It always wants something more stimulating. And if it can have it without loss…'
She didn't think deeply.
"Well, we do have to eat and live, after all."
The Yo-eumbang women threw the blood-soaked woman onto a bed and left.
"Ugh. Ugh."
Raymond touched her wounds.
"Does it hurt?"
"Aaah!"
"Yes, it must hurt. My heart hurts too. Hang on a little longer. I'll make you comfortable soon—"
At that moment, the woman's thumb plunged deep into the left side of Raymond's neck.
"Nngh! Guhhh!"
He tried to cry out, but his vocal cords were effectively blocked.
"Yeah. It hurts, you bastard."
She pushed herself up, twisted the thumb, and the positions were completely reversed.
"Gyaaa—!"
Even pinned beneath her, Raymond could see how sharp her nails were.
'Save me! Guard! My guards!'
"Hoho! Even with its windpipe clamped, it's still lively! Fresh is best, after all."
She licked her lips and began dismantling Raymond's neck with all ten fingers.
Horrible sounds followed. Finally, having torn the flesh away, she snapped the spine.
"Fuu!"
Gripping the severed hair, she slid off the bed. A Yo-eumbang member entered.
"Is it over?"
The woman held up Raymond's head to show her.
"And the escorts?"
"Lolo and I took care of them."
When she pulled back her mouth in a grin, venom leaked from sharp fangs between exposed bits of flesh.
"It never ends at the lips."
"Right. Let's go."
She closed a wooden box around Raymond's head, latched the lid, and began to walk.
Pedra was waiting.
"Handled?"
When she opened the lid, Raymond's face stared up at the ceiling, eyes wide open.
"Well, Raymond."
Pedra brought her face close.
"Why such a scared look? Feel wronged about dying? Hm? Feeling wronged?"
Her hand slapped his cheek.
"Say something. Don't you know why you died? Want me to tell you?" She sneered. "Pathetic."
Pedra smirked and stepped back.
"You thought you were something because you were Jaive's number two, because you were after Gis. Did you really think you mattered? You're not king or anything. You had nothing to give me."
If Raymond could have shown his shameful condition to his guards…
"That's why you weren't fit for Gis."
The Yo-eumbang woman closed the box and asked, "The settlement?"
"Seventy percent up front. Once we hand over the head, they pay the balance. Transaction complete."
"One percent is for us."
One percent of the astronomical sum Gis had to pay Arakne.
"Fine, you greedy thing."
Arakne had never intended to make Raymond Jaive's king from the start.
'If you're going to extort, do it properly.' Even if votes matter, a power like Jaive wouldn't bow to Arakne.
So they trapped Gis first, then demanded money in exchange for helping him escape.
Pedra rubbed her fingers together.
"Big money. This is the business. Let's wrap it up. Our work at the cathedral is done—time to enjoy ourselves, right?"
Yo-eumbang's leader asked, "Do you think Gis will be okay? Did we go too far? What if we end up taking the fall?"
"It's fine. That's the kind of pressure needed to make a threat. We cut off Raymond's head; the rest will handle itself."
"And Rangi?"
Pedra's eyebrows twitched.
"Tch! She's sly. Leave her alone for now. If she gave up her share to attach herself to Yahweh, it means she wants to live. She won't do anything stupid."
Having heard that far, Habitz turned.
'Hmm, Rangi.'
It had been nearly an hour since he killed Gando, so he needed another target.
'A bit vague. Getting mixed up directly with Yahweh is annoying. Woorin will have goblins at her side...'
At times like this he resented the divine frequency.
'No fun.'
Even Arakne's palace gossip, which used to be entertaining, felt dull.
'A greater pleasure. Does that even exist?'
As he wandered the corridor with that thought, a familiar voice came from around the corner.
"Habitz."
He stopped and slowly turned to see Zetaro and Sumodo standing side by side.
"Am I… visible?"
They were in a vanishing state.
Watching the two stare into empty air, Habitz glanced to the side.
Wena the Wizard stood there.
"Oh?"
The vanishing dissolved and Zetaro and Sumodo finally registered Habitz.
"Habitz, long time no see."
"Is that so? I don't recall. Why come looking for me now? To join the assassination game?"
"No. I want to propose a game I made."
"Hmm."
Not using the divine frequency didn't mean he had no interest at all.
"Well, if you want to kill me, a game is your only chance. But I'm having plenty of fun right now, you know?"
He mostly wanted to play with the Wizard.
"How about you just charge in? Kill us quickly and then do what you want."
Habitz's gaze fixed on the Wizard, and Zetaro felt sorrow.
'If we can't persuade him, we lose our chance.'
He spoke with that thought in mind.
"You'll like it. You can stake your life."
"Oho."
"Facts and Lies. That's the name of this game."
Hearing the name, Habitz's heart thudded and he opened the divine frequency.
And then...
"Kukuku! Kukukuku!"
The corners of his mouth split into a grotesque grin.