Chapter 296 — The Hidden Village Oni Sisters 5: The Oni That Cried

The Miload family is a branch family with Mathers as the main family, and their mansion is southeast of the Mathers margrave territory, close to the industrial city Costool.

The head of the Miload family, Dudley Miload, is an energetic person who will be turning 30 years old, and he is related by blood with Roswaal, although they are distant relatives. That said, Roswaal associates with the Miload family more because of Dudley’s wife, Grace Miload, rather than because of Dudley.

This is because──

[Roswaal: Grace was born with defects in controlling mana. Her body’s gate doesn’t work well, and her irregular flow of mana was almost harmful to her. I fiiiiix that. That’s why we’ve been acquaintances ever siiiiince.]

[Grace: After that, I married my husband Dudley and became related to Roswaal-sama. I didn’t think that it’d turn out like this, so it’s strange.]

[Roswaal: No no nooooo, it isn’t. I was sure of it the first time I saw you. I was sure that you were going to be a very important person to me.]

[Grace: Oh, you flatter me.]

Then, hearing Roswaal’s quick joke, the young woman──Grace Miload’s cheeks blush just a little bit, and she pushed the clown’s shoulder with her hand in embarrassment.

They were in Grace’s bedroom at the Miload residence. Next to Grace, who was lying down on the bed in the room, Roswaal was chatting with her while sitting on a chair. The situation was like that.

The one utterly confused with their friendly conversation was Rem. Rem didn’t know why she was even there in the first place.

[Ram: ──So? Roswaal-sama, why did you bring us along?]

Seeing Rem’s doubt, Ram, who was sitting next to her, speaks up for her. She spoke frankly like you’d expect, though the one who chuckled slightly in response was Grace.

She acknowledges Ram, whose eyes were squinted, with a “Sorry” and said,

[Grace: I have no intentions of taking away Roswaal-sama from you. Don’t get so offended.]

[Ram: ……I really don’t get what you’re talking about.]

[Grace: Oh, is that so? You don’t seem to be that slow of a child, though.]

Ram sighs at Grace, who says that with one eye closed. It was rare to see Ram back down in an argument, so Rem’s eyes widened in surprise.

[Roswaal: It makes me feel good seeing Ram defeated in an argument.]

[Grace: Roswaal-sama, you should stop teasing kids you like, too. Soon they really will hate you, and you’ve already hurt them, after all.]

[Roswaal: Woooow, that’s harsh. You can give a real punch with your words now, huh. Moms are just good at it……I guess that’s how it iiiiis?]

Roswaal says that, looking at Grace as he was scolded while acting triumphant. Those words make Grace smile slightly, and she softly stroked her stomach──her very large stomach.

The bulging that you couldn’t imagine someone thin like Grace having was proof that there was new life in there.

[Roswaal: Shall I predict if it’s going to be a boy or a girl?]

[Rem: You can figure out something like that with magic?]

[Roswaal: It’s not magic, it’s simply prediction……maybe something like fortune-telling? I’m confident that I’ll get it riiiight.]

[Grace: …….Well, I’ll pass. It’ll be a surprise until it’s born.]

Grace shakes her head in response to Roswaal’s proposal and she continues to rub her belly affectionately. Roswaal shrugs his shoulders to let Rem know that it’d be insensitive to say anything after that gesture.

──They went to the capital the other day to find a gift for the baby inside of Grace’s stomach.

Grace was already in the last month of pregnancy with her large stomach, so the baby could be born at any time. Normally, pregnant women shouldn’t have to deal with visitors, but──

[Roswaal: Sorry, Grace. I just thought that this would be a good experience for these two. I wanted them to see the beauty of a pregnant woman with new life inside of her.]

[Grace: How awful of you to call it beautiful despite my stomach being this big.]

[Roswaal: You don’t need to feel ashamed. This is an important ritual that keeps life going. Right now, as a woman you are……yes, this is the second most beautiful point of your life. The first being when you were at your wedding in a wedding dreeess.]

There was nothing weird about Roswaal saying exaggerative things, as he was someone who was usually pompous.

In fact, Grace smiled shyly, and Rem also felt admiration for him inside of her. Although, with her synesthesia, she sensed that Ram, who was next to her, was the one and only one whose mood was worsening.

[Roswaal: Well then, it’d be fun to keep chit-chatting, but I wouldn’t want to push a pregnant woman too hard. We still have more time. Let’s call it a day for now.]

[Grace: You sure? I’d still like to talk……ah]

Then, Grace, who was somewhat disappointed, took a side glance at Ram with a look that indicated that she realized something. And then, when the wife cleared her throat, she said,

[Grace: Okay. Well then, I’ll see you later. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be a very good host for you.]

[Roswaal: A pregnant woman shouldn’t worry about something like thaaaat. Anyways, see you later.]

Leaving those words behind, Roswaal leaves the room with Rem and Ram. On her bed, Grace continued to wave the three of them goodbye with a kind smile until they were gone.

Afterwards, the maid that was waiting in the hall guides the three of them to the mansion’s guest room.

The Miload residence was pretty big, though it wasn’t as big as the Mathers residence. There were a lot of maids, and it couldn’t compare to the Mathers residence, which only had a select few.

And so, when they were guided from Grace’s bedroom to the room for special visitors, saw off the maid that guided them, and took a breather,

[Ram: ──So? Why did Roswaal-sama bring us along?]

When the maid left, the first thing Ram said was the question that had been evaded earlier. Every word was the same, but she spoke with eyes that indicated she wouldn’t accept the same result.

Roswaal, being glared at by her light red eyes as he sat down on a couch in the room, smiled wryly.

[Roswaal: I’m sorry that you’re so suspicious of me, but you’re overthinking this. I made you meet Grace because I truly wanted to show you guys signs of new life. There was no one younger than you at the Oni village……meaning, you guys never came in contact with a pregnant woman, right?]

[Rem: ……Umm, no, never. Since Nee-sama and I were the first kids at the village.]

There was not a single child born after Ram and Rem, as the Onis had low birth rates. Therefore, strictly speaking, Rem, the younger sister, was the youngest at the village. Although, it isn’t really necessary to be technical, since they were twins.

In any case, Rem understood Roswaal’s goal, but she didn’t know what was his intent. What would come out of making Ram and Rem meet a woman with a baby inside of her womb?

Nevertheless, Rem tilted her head puzzling over that, whereas Ram had a dramatic reaction.

[Rem: Nee-sama?]

[Ram: ……Seriously, he fools around so much.]

Sounding annoyed, Ram forces those words out, and she bit her lip in vexation. Rem winced, not knowing why she was angry. However, as Ram showed violent emotion, Roswaal closed one eye, and while seeing the sisters in his yellow eye he said,

[Roswaal: It’d be perfect if you guys would be there to witness the moment the child is boooorn.]

[Ram: How ridiculous. Rem and I won’t go for a reason like that. Besides, Grace-sama’s baby doesn’t know about your expectations.]

[Rem: ──?]

Rem couldn’t keep up with Roswaal and Ram’s conversation and she was left behind.

Ram hugs her confused sister’s shoulder softly. And then, while still hugging her sister, Ram glares at Roswaal at firmly, and she spoke.

[Ram: Don’t disturb me and Rem anymore.]

[Roswaal: That’s a cruel misunderstanding. That said, I have no way to dispel your doubts. ……Weeeell, there’s three days left. Be patient and go with it until then.]

Roswaal concludes the conversation, and he looks towards the window as he leaned back in the chair. Rem, being allured by his look, also gets captivated by the sky dyed in the color of a sunset.

[Ram: To be more precise, there are two days and a half left. ──I do hope that there won’t be any evil schemes.]

However, judging from those words that came from Ram, who looked at the same sky, her bitterness and suspicions were still there.

2

10 days after the moon festival incident at the capital, Roswaal visited the Miload residence with Rem and Ram. The secret feud that happened behind the scenes of the moon festival was settled safely with the death of the witch cultist, who was the ringleader, and the information was not revealed to the public. All of the magical miasma stones set up all over the capital were found thanks to Ram’s reasoning and Rem’s sense of smell; it was a successful disposal.

The witch cult’s objective with the moon festival never became clear. There was no choice but to hope that it’d be revealed in the interrogation with the witch cultists the “Sword Saint” boy captured.

[Ram: Well, there probably isn’t much hope with that. Just by doing a little investigation, you can get overwhelmed by how dirty the witch cultists are. ……If they were people who just simply confessed, they wouldn’t have made it this far.]

[Rem: That’s……yes, I agree.]

In the guest room they were provided with, Rem lowers her eyes upon hearing Ram say those words while drinking her cup of black tea.

In her mind, she saw the witch cultist who didn’t even beg for his life when he was on the verge of death. The small man faced Rem and only spouted nonsense until he lost his life. Apparently he was more of a witch cultist than Rem’s first opponent who died of extreme pain and fear caused by her torture.

[Ram: Rem, are you worried?]

Ram worries about Rem, who was looking down and not drinking her cup. Hearing her sister’s words, Rem gasps quietly, and she shares the depressing anxiety that was weighing on her mind.

[Rem: I achieved retribution. Out of the four people, I’ve made two of them pay. But I got nothing out of the second one, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find the remaining two……]

[Ram: The captured witch cultists might all suicide……would be as dirty as I’ve heard they are.]

[Rem: Besides, I wasn’t helpful at all at the capital. I have the nose to find them, but he outsmarted me and got away……if Nee-sama wasn’t there, I might have never found him again.]

Rem may have got too cocky because of her first opponent──Fogg.

Rem defeated the man at the end of a fight to the death, and she got him to fess up the names of the remaining three enemies. After that, she didn’t know what to do with herself, and she was persuaded by Roswaal to live as ‘Ram’s Substitute’ and by trying her best to be that, she no longer saw her imperfect self.

By training with a weapon she was given, striving to master water magic ─ which she had an aptitude for ─ and seeking revenge, Rem felt like she had forgotten about her past self.

She felt like she’d forgotten about her past self that was a disgrace to the Oni clan, who could not possibly even try to be her sister’s substitute, as she was an imperfect tool that couldn’t hope to compare to Ram, the one admired as the reincarnation of an Oni God.

[Ram: Rem, you really are such a fool.]

She couldn’t just simply say to her sister that she’d accomplish something in place of her.

Besides, Rem didn’t accomplish a single thing on her own since the start of retribution. Roswaal was the one who captured Fogg, confined him, and weakened him. It was nothing more than Rem undoing the seal and beating Fogg to death from behind as he tried to take advantage of that.

Unbelievable how she could still shamelessly say stuff like “Retribution has been achieved”. Now she understood how much things were set up for her. She knew it so well that she wanted to die because of her lack of shame.

[Ram: ──Rem, it’s not like that. Relax.]

However, Ram, who put her cup down and got close to her, put a stop to such self-tormenting thoughts. Their shoulders touch. She wraps her shaking hand, and Rem looked at Ram’s face as she felt that warmth.

She nods at the wet, light blue eyes with only deep affection in her light pink eyes.

[Ram: Don’t say you were useless. I was able to shoot down that small man at the capital thanks to you. At the beginning, I was also able to figure out that the witch cult was planning something thanks to you. I’m able to be happy and well everyday thanks to you. Although the last part is what’s most important, you’re always contributing.]

[Rem: ────]

[Ram: You’re always doing your very best, and I……Onee-chan knows that. So you don’t need to blame yourself. There’s no need for you take all of it by yourself.]

[Rem: …….Nee-sama.]

[Ram: In fact, I’m the one that──]

Ram pats Rem’s head, as she looked like she was going to start sobbing because of the comfort, and she tried to continue saying something. However, her throat clogged when she was just about to say her last words.

What ran through Ram’s eyes were unusual hesitation and indecision, even though she was someone who always felt imposing. But, those complex emotions disappeared when she blinked, and she touched Rem’s cheek as she stopped patting Ram’s head.

[Ram: Never mind, it’s nothing. ──Besides, the enemy’s’ whereabouts isn’t something that should be worried about. I’m sure that Roswaal-sama will find the remaining two.]

[Rem: It is Roswaal-sama, but will he be able to find them easily?]

It wasn’t like she didn’t believe in Roswaal. In fact, as of right now, Roswaal was the one she trusted the most after her sister. Next people that came to her mind were her coworkers at the mansion, such as Frederica and Clind.

But, of course, they couldn’t possibly compete with Ram, no matter how much control they had.

[Rem: The witch cultists have hid themselves around the world for 400 years……even if they’re found, I have no idea how long it’d take.]

She wasn’t even sure if the remaining three enemies were still in the Kingdom of Lugnica. If they escaped to another kingdom, following their tracks would be no easy task. The flame of revenge continuing to burn for years, for decades──imagining it was horrifying.

Still, Ram smiled at Rem as she had those worries and said,

[Ram: Don’t worry, it won’t take that long. I mean, it took three months to defeat two enemies……doing some simple calculations, it’ll take three more months to find the remaining two.]

[Rem: ‘Doing some simple calculations’……oh Nee-sama.]

Ram’s joke makes Rem let out a smile as she put her hand on her mouth. It wasn’t going to be that easy, but she was happy that her sister tried to soothe her.

[Rem: It’s not going to go that well, and that’s just a fact. I just……I just happened to coincidentally find the first two.]

[Ram: ──Just happened to coincidentally find them, eh. Yeah…maybe that’s right.]

[Rem: Yes, it is. ……But I’m happy that Nee-sama cares. I’m more relaxed now, though just a little bit. Nee-sama is as lovely as ever.]

With a smile, Rem expresses her gratitude as she put her chest. Not all of the anxiety disturbing her chest was gone. But, she was able to ease up thanks to Ram, although it was just a little.

As expected, Ram is amazing. She knows everything about me. She tells me the words I want to hear the most when I want to hear them the most, does things I want her to do when I want it.

That’s why──

──I’ll give everything I have to be the replacement for Ram’s horn.

[Ram: Yes, I’m looking forward to it. Still……]

Ram responds with a smile without knowing about Rem’s determination she was thinking about, and she looks around the guest room. She paused in the middle of her sentence, and when she sighed slightly she said,

[Ram: This mansion is boring. There’s nothing to do since we’re treated as guests.]

[Rem: That’s……yes, I think so too. This is boring.]

Rem agrees with Ram’s listless sigh. Currently, they were being treated as guests as Roswaal’s servants at the Miload residence. They were, of course, provided with a guest room for visitors, and they weren’t assigned any work. To put it as it is, they had free time.

[Rem: ────]

Rem was always a girl who was terrible at putting time to use. Back then at the Oni village, whenever Ram was called over by the adults for ‘duties’, Rem would wait alone waiting for her sister’s return. No friends of her generation, no adults to look after her, alone──.

[Ram: Whenever there’s nothing to do like this, it brings me back to the days at the village.]

[Rem: ──Nee-sama, you’re amazing.]

[Ram: I am, as I’m Rem’s Onee-chan, after all. ……So, what about me is amazing?]

[Rem: You had said my exact thoughts.]

Ram proudly snorts at Rem, who was surprised by her innermost thoughts being read correctly. Seeing her sister in a good mood makes Rem smile, and then she was slightly surprised.

Since she noticed that this was the first time Ram brought up the village without it being out of anger or the desire for revenge.

[Ram: Come to think of it, there’s nothing memorable about the village. That’s why there are more noteworthy points even at Roswaal-sama’s mansion. Boring adults, and a village that never changes. A cute little sister.]

[Rem: My lovely sister was there, and that’s enough for me.]

[Ram: Well…yeah. There was nothing, but just running around in the hills and fields was fun as long as I was with you. Obviously we can’t act as we want like that in this mansion, though.]

She smiles wryly at Ram, who talked about a way to kill time and was looking at the door to the corridor this whole time. Ram was the world to Rem in those days. Her reason to live was being with Ram.

She pulls herself together as she thought about how much things have changed in just three months.

[Rem: As long as Nee-sama is with me, I don’t need anything else. I’ll be completely satisfied.]

[Ram: ……But all I did was make you feel lonely in those days.]

[Rem: Nee-sama had an important role, so it couldn’t be helped. Besides, I did fine alone. I would collect a bunch of stones at a river beach near home and pile them up. As I made a pile of stones, the evening arrived, and so it’d be another day where I spent my time properly……]

[Ram: Re─rem? You wasted time doing something like that…..?]

The truth nobody knew about is revealed and it startles Ram. After that, she looked at Rem with a compassionate expression and said,

[Ram: Sorry, Rem. I’m supposed to be the big sister, and yet I never noticed……]

[Rem: N─no, it’s not your fault, Nee-sama. It’s my fault for being bad at killing time. And on top of that, I……I’m too weak to have the same duties as Nee-sama.]

Ram apologized while looking down, making Rem panic as she shook her head.

Ram’s apology──Ram was always full of confidence and she is the greatest existence in this world, but for Rem, seeing her lovable sister apologize wasn’t that rare.

After all, whenever her sister was taken away by the adults, she would always apologize to Rem; for leaving her alone, for not going with her, for being different than her little sister, and for making her feel all sorts of complex emotions.

And so it moved her deeply, so deeply ─ deeper than any words, fists, or circumstances could.

[Ram: ──After all retribution is achieved, let’s put the Onis’ souls to rest. We’ll return to the village and tell the souls that have unfortunately lost a place to go that retribution is over.]

[Rem: ……Yes, Nee-sama. I want to do that as soon as possible.]

[Ram: Going to yam fields and getting covered in mud with Rem will have to wait until that’s accomplished.]

With a slight smile, Ram ends the conversation about the village like that. Rem’s sister’s words make her break into a smile, and she remembered the times when they’d run around the hills and fields together until they got in trouble with their parents.

And so, Ram, who nodded in response to Rem’s smile, suddenly headed towards the door out the room.

[Rem: Nee-sama?]

[Ram: Since we apparently can’t run around in the mansion, we’ll just have to kill time by getting the adults in the corridor to help us out.]

[???: Kya──]

As Ram said that, she opened the door straight away without doing anything else. That’s when the people outside lost their support and fell to the floor while screaming softly.

They were girls dressed as maids. Rem, who was surprised, noticed that they looked familiar.

They were all demi-humans that were at the Mathers residence with her for a month──they were the girls who were sent to a different workplace after receiving maid training.

Them being here meant that──

[Rem: So you were all being taken care of at the Miload family’s mansion.]

[???: Umm, yes, that’s right. Long time no see, Ram-san and Rem-san.]

They stand back up with awkward expressions, fixing their postures, and one of them, a rabbit eared girl, replies. Seeing her act like that, Ram snorts quietly with her arms folded.

[Ram: So? I thought you were all trained properly to be maids, so why were you naughtily eavesdropping on guests in a room?]

[???: Agh! You see, we didn’t mean any harm. It’s just, uh, Master……or well, not anymore, Madam and Roswaal-sama told us too.]

[Ram: Roswaal-sama and Grace-sama did?]

[???: Yes. They said to talk to you two since you guys might be bored……]

The girls speak nervously while looking at each other as they were scared of Ram. They should be 3-4 years older than Ram, but her calm aura was not that of an eight year old.

Ram had her eyes squinted and was pondering something. However, Rem felt pity for the girls who had pale faces because of Ram’s silence, and so she helped them out.

[Rem: Nee-sama, come on now, we’ve finally reunited with everyone.]

[Ram: ……It’s not like I doubt them or anything. I can definitely see Roswaal-sama saying something like that, and we really were bored.]

Ram tugs on her chin while sighing, sounding like she had surrendered. As she made that reaction, Rem and the girls look at each other, and then they were all felt relieved.

[???: W─well then, let’s have some tea. We have permission now, and there’s also sweets.]

With Ram’s permission, the rabbit eared girl brought the cart inside the room. Seeing the sweet aroma and warm steam waft, Rem finally loosened up.

[???: Please drink some tea and tell me about some things while you eat sweets. ……Like, you know, what’s Ram-san’s relationship with Master?]

[Rem: Nee-sama’s relationship with Roswaal-sama?]

The girls screamed noisily while blushing as Rem gave them a blank look. Being put in the spotlight, Ram shrugged her shoulders tiredly.

[Ram: I knew it. ──Good grief.]

3

The scheduled three days to stay at the Miload residence went by without anything happening just like that. For Rem, the three days at the mansion turned into something like an unexpected day off, and Rem and Ram never had to do anything like witnessing Grace giving birth, which Roswaal was looking forward to.

[Rem: Grace-sama was very kind. Good thing we came, huh, Nee-sama.]

[Ram: ……Yeah. As long as you had fun, I’m satisfied too.]

As opposed to Rem, who looked back at the three days peacefully, Ram responded with some tiredness showing in her voice.

During their stay, the girls at the Miload residence pried into truths and lies about Ram. It seemed that her iron strength of will lost to the curiosity the teenage girls had for love.

[Ram: How ridiculous. Just how much of an age difference do they think there is between me and Roswaal-sama anyway? If they get this turned on by someone younger than them, then they have some problems.]

[Rem: Nee-sama is mature, unlike a lot of 8 year olds, after all. ……Come to think of it, I wonder how old Roswaal-sama is. I never heard about that.]

[Ram: Despite how he looks, it seems that he’s 21. When I looked under his white make-up, surprisingly, I discovered a face appropriate of his age. It seems he uses makeup as a weapon to avoid being looked down upon for the difference between his position and age.]

[Rem: ……I’ve never seen Roswaal-sama without his clown makeup on. So Roswaal-sama really does let his guard down with Nee-sama.]

[Ram: That’s not…true.]

Hearing Rem’s honest doubt, Ram replies in a slightly evasive way.

They met up every night for Ram’s treatment as she’d lost her horn. Since Rem had no idea what her sister was doing when they did that, she couldn’t tell what they truly felt inside.

Plus, Ram and Roswaal were both good at hiding their inner thoughts. Still, Ram’s inner thoughts on Roswaal were different from what they were at first. She was sure about that.

Although, she didn’t know if it was because she liked Roswaal or if it was because she disliked him.

[Ram: Anyway, I’m free from that rain-like barrage of questions for today. If I can think of it as being patient until Dudley-sama returns, then it’s no big deal for me.]

[Rem: Nee-sama, you were having some trouble after all……]

The head of the Miload family, Dudley Miload, has been gone from the mansion these past three days.

Dudley is going to the Industrial City Costool and leaving behind his pregnant wife at the mansion because of his work. Rem and the others stayed at the mansion also to keep Grace company for the time being.

Accompanying the pregnant woman will also no longer be needed once Dulley returned to the mansion. That truly was something Ram was eagerly waiting for as someone who was tired from the maids’ curiosity.

[Rem: But I’m just a little sad. We won’t get to see Grace-sama giving birth.]

[Ram: ……Yeah, maybe not.]

Hearing Rem’s brief comment, Ram also showed her agreement with a few words.

At first, Ram was against childbirth as she hated going along with Roswaal’s expectations, but once she got to know Grace’s personality and started to like her, naturally, her thoughts also changed.

[Ram: But it’s like I’m on the palm of Roswaal-sama’s hand, and I hate it……]

Rem vaguely avoids touching on Ram’s extremely complicated feelings with a bitter smile.

Still, Rem was glad that they came. She smiled more, even though they were wry smiles. It was undoubtedly because of the people living in the mansion, Grace and the maids.

Her failure at the capital and the anxiety to accomplish retribution──it felt like those things were forgotten about, just a little bit.

The third day at the Miload residence began peacefully while she felt relieved like that.

Dudley will be back home in the afternoon, and Rem and the others will be leaving then. Since this was a special occasion, Rem showed her cooking skills for lunch, and she received lavish praise from Grace and the maids.

Furthermore, this was when they started to ease up quite a bit with how they treated Rem and the others as guests; they were given the permission to walk around the mansion pretty freely, and they started to feel more and more reluctant to leave.

Still, those times would have to come to an end. After things were cleaned up at lunch, it was the time when Dudley Miload was scheduled to return, and an earth dragon arrived at the Miload residence entrance.

However, the news the earth dragon had was a bit different from what they’d imagined and──

[Roswaal: Dudley had to stop midway because of dragon carriage trouble?]

[???: Y─yes, please forgive me. There was just a little bit more to go to reach the mansion, but we had to change dragon carriages because of a wheel problem. Which is why I came back like this……]

The young male servant says that and bows to Roswaal while having such a pale face that it was pitiful.

According to the young man who was Dudley’s servant, a wheel was taken off of the imperial carriage because of the mud on the way back from the city Costool, and it could no longer be used to travel. As a result, the young man returned to the mansion alone on the earth dragon as ordered by Dudley, and came to pick up a replacement dragon carriage. ──That was the situation.

[Roswaal: Dudley suuuure is unlucky at crucial times, though it’s always been like that. If Grace was going into labor right now, he’d regret it for a very long time.]

[???: Master wants to come back to his wife as soon as possible too……]

[Roswaal: I understand how he feels, of course. ──Let’s see, if that’s the case, then there’s a lot of catching up to do, so I guess we’ll go pick him up ourselves. Since we’ll make Dudley feel uncomfortable that waaaay.]

With a malicious smile, Roswaal taps the astonished servant’s shoulder. After that, he looked back at the mansion and winked at Rem and Ram, who were listening, and the maids.

[Roswaal: Aaaaand so, let’s take my dragon carriage. Ram, if you would.]

[Ram: Understood. Please wait a……]

Roswaal naturally calls on Ram, and Ram calmly accepts. That interaction makes the maids’ eyes light up for a moment. Seeing their reaction in the corner of her eye, Ram stops talking. Then, she looks at Roswaal, who was tilting his head, and said,

[Ram: Or well, I was going to go, but since I don’t feel well today, you should ask Rem.]

[Roswaal: You sure? I hope you’re alright. I was sure that nothing happened last niiiiight.]

[Ram: Yes, I’ll be fine. ──As long as you don’t say any more unnecessary things.]

Ram kept endorsing Rem while being wary of the eyes of the maids, which were shining brighter and brighter. Rem gives a bittersweet smile in response to Ram’s feelings, and she bows to Roswaal.

[Rem: As requested by Nee-sama, I’ll be taking over for her. Is that okay?]

[Roswaal: Yeeees, I don’t mind. I just called on Ram first because she looked gruuumpy. I have no problems with Rem. Let’s go, shall we?]

[Rem: Yes. I’ll get it ready right away.]

Rem does a courtesy, and she went to go get the imperial carriage left at the other side of the mansion. The dragon carriage was medium-sized, and the earth dragon held at the stable was a four legged large earth dragon. She takes out the dark brown earth dragon from the stable, and gets on the driver’s seat connected to the dragon carriage. She controls the reigns skilfully, and it took less than five minutes for the dragon carriage to return to the main entrance.

[Roswaal: Impressive. Truly excellent.]

[Ram: She’s my little sister, after all. That’s just natural.]

[Roswaal: I’m glad to see that you’re in a good mood agaaaain. ──Well then, we’ll bring back Dudley as soon as possible.]

Ram praises Rem, and Roswaal catches her off her guard and pats her head gently. The feeling flusters Ram, but she didn’t stop Roswaal because of it. Roswaal dashingly steps onto the dragon carriage Rem was controlling, and then he nodded at the boy who was Dudley’s servant.

[Roswaal: Alright, would you please show us the way? Think of it this way, every second we’re delayed, Grace gets more loooonely.]

[???: Ah, yes! Understood I will guide you!]

Hearing Roswaal call out to him, the young man jumps onto the earth dragon next to him respectfully.

He did come to get a replacement dragon carriage, but he was probably feeling disturbed inside since the Margrave made him come along. But, Roswaal being whimsical was nothing unusual, so Rem wasn’t surprised.

[Rem: Alright, Nee-sama. We’ll be gone for a little bit.]

[Ram: Don’t cry, Rem.]

[Rem: I haven’t cried over things like this lately.]

[Ram: Then that makes me feel a bit lonely.]

Rem has that exchange with Ram, they smile at each other, and she drives the dragon carriage. They leave the Miload residence, and the dragon carriage proceeded straight over the main road while following the guiding young man.

[Rem: By the way, Roswaal-sama, what do you think of Dudley-sama?]

Along the way, from the back of the driver’s seat──Rem speaks while facing the small window connecting the passenger carriage and the driver’s seat. After that, Roswaal, who was looking outside the small window, went “Oh?” as he raised an eyebrow.

[Roswaal: Did Grace and the maids not tell you about Dulley?]

[Rem: Everyone told me that he’s a good husband and a good master. Incidentally, I was wondering what impression Roswaal-sama had of him, so I asked.]

[Roswaal: I see. Weeell, my impression is no different from theirs, either. He’s a good friend, a good relative……definitely a good person. So good that I get a little irritated just by looking at hiiiiim.]

[Rem: Irritated, you say?]

Thinking that it was unusual for him to lean towards an assessment of ‘close friend’ or ‘relative’, Rem asks again.

[Roswaal: He’s not the one to doubt others, you see. He tries to accept everything. It’s a part of how he married his wife, who had a problem with her Gate, and why he helps with my hobby.]

[Rem: Your hobby……I guess this is about the “Demi-human Lover” thing.]

Frederica had told her before about those words in an annoyed manner.

Roswaal took care of Demi-humans with no place to go, trained them, and gave them word. And there was gossip that insulted Roswaal as a “Demi-human Lover” for his actions.

[Rem: Roswaal-sama is a splendid gentleman. That’s what I think.]

[Roswaal: Hahaha, thaaaank you. Well, even though people talk about me behind my back like that, Dudley still is more than happy to help me. There were a lot of Demi-human maids in his mansion, right?]

[Rem: ……He helps you, and yet you feel irritated by him?]

[Roswaal: He’s someone that can believe people without doubting them one bit. Even more so when he owes the person. Weeeell, anyone could say that, though.]

Roswaal’s thinking was complicated, so Rem couldn’t really understand what he meant. She just understood that he liked Dudley, but also couldn’t deal with him very well.

Having innate goodness and being a nice person don’t always go hand in hand. Rem keeps that thought in mind. In any case──

[Rem: ──I see it. I think that’s the dragon carriage.]

With the conversation put on pause, a stopped carriage comes into view right at the end of the main road. They stop at the end of the road, and there was a slightly tilted carriage. ──This had to be the dragon carriage talked about earlier.

[Rem: There, there……]

Rem stops the earth dragon right by that dragon carriage, and she jumps off the driver’s seat after exchanging looks with Roswaal. The young male servant next to her also gets off the earth dragon, and he ran up to his master’s dragon carriage.

[???: Master, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting! I came back with a replacement dragon carriage……or rather, I came back with more amazing people!]

Noticing chaos and agitation in the young man’s voice, Rem reflexively broke into a smile. It looked like the Margrave accompanying him stressed out his heart more than she’d thought. After the young man practically said that he was finally free from uncomfortableness, he jumped onto the dragon carriage and called out to him inside.

[???: Yes, yes, it’ll be fine. No, in that dragon carriage. ……Ahh, for crying out loud, you’ll know once you see it! Oh, young maid, come on in.]

The young man gives a confusing explanation to the master inside, and he beckons Rem. Hearing him call out to her, Rem steps on the ramp, and she──

[Rem: ────]

was going to bow to Dudley inside and call out to him. But then her thoughts froze.

[Rem: Ah……]

Rem lets out a moan upon seeing the scene before her eyes, and she couldn’t move, legs becoming numb. It was as if her vision had poisoned her. In fact, it was a hell that would prevent you from moving an inch.

──The luxurious dragon carriage was turned into an unimaginable sea of blood.

The small dragon carriage was full of a suffocating smell of blood, and there were several large, red pieces of meat in a pool of blood on the floor. ‘Pieces of meat’ is what they should be called. You couldn’t call them dead bodies when they were this damaged.

You shouldn’t call them stuff like dead bodies when their dignities were damaged this much.

[???: The one inside is Master, and the two in the front are the driver and the real servant.]

[Rem: ────]

The young man standing right by Rem, who was stiffening up, faces her, and he gives an explanation as he pointed at the pieces of meat. Rem couldn’t even move an inch when she heard that level voice.

She felt nauseated. Her whole body became weak. Gastric juice from her writhing stomach ran up her throat.

[Rem: Oo…eh……]

[???: Don’t breath with your nose. Make sure you breath with your mouth. Then, if you focus on your stomach, it’ll settle down immediately. If you feel pain, then at your feet there’s……ahh, it might be hard to tell, but the things on the seat are feet. Start with that to grasp the whole body in order.]

She was dizzy. Her thoughts were breaking. Her knees were shaking, and she felt like she was going to collapse into the pool of blood.

Why, why, why──it was so hard to move her body. Her mind and her consciousness were unstable.

But, even if her limbs gave up on her, there was one sense working vehemently.

It was too late. Fatally late. Why hadn’t she noticed it? Even though the scent was this strong──

[???: ──Juuuuust calm down. That’s just pieces of meat, after all.]

[Rem: Witch cultist……!!]

Rem senses the miasma, though it was too late, and she tried to jump back with the strength she scraped up in her body. However, for some reason, Rem fell down to her knees against her will, and she felt like she was going to faint.

The young man grabbed her body with his arms and he lifted her forcibly.

[Rem: Ka…ah……!]

[???: You sure are light. All Onis have is physical strength, so where does the weight of their muscles go? I wonder if I’d find out by dissecting one. There was no time to do that at that mountain, you see.]

While holding onto Rem, the young man kept laughing with a frivolous and innocent look. It wasn’t like he’d completely changed. He was extremely calm, extremely composed. That was dreadful.

[Rem: Ros……]

[???: Ahh, you want to ask your Master to save you? Well you can’t. All the fun would be ruined once someone gets in the way of this meeting, right? So……]

The dragon carriage that turned into a horrible scene was shady, and Roswaal couldn’t see the interaction from the passenger carriage. Seeing Rem trying to tell her master about the dilemma, the young man flaps his free hand cruelly.

A light, air-expelling sound──right after that, Rem saw red light on the other side of the dragon carriage.

[Rem: ────]

The hot wind blowing through shakes her maid outfit, and she bellowed as she opened her mouth. However, even her own yell was drowned out by the explosion, and the high pitched ringing in her ears destroys her eardrums. But, it was still easy to guess what’d happened by looking at the flames that rose with the produced shock wave and hot wind.

[???: They’re the flames that burned your home. Or perhaps the flames that burned your family. Though, that was a failure.]

She didn’t know what he meant by saying it was a failure. Still, the result was clear.

The eruption of smoke closes in, and the heated sand envelops Rem and the young man. On the other side of the dragon carriage tilted by the impact, there was serious damage to the dragon carriage Roswaal was on, and it was most likely being engulfed in flames.

With her master on it, the young man──no, the witch cultist, blew away the dragon carriage.

[???: How’s it feel to be so powerless that even your master gets burnt after your village and family? How’s it feel being unable to reach the enemy you hate so much that you want to kill him, even though he’s right before your eyes?]

[Rem: I’ll…kill you……!]

[???: Yes, that’s it. Those eyes, that voice, and that horn are what I wanted.]

In response to Rem’s anger and her desire for revenge, the horn of an Oni comes out on her forehead. The white horn shining brightly sucks in the mana in the atmosphere, filling her whole body with over the top energy.

However──

[Rem: Oo……?]

[???: It is a beautiful, splendid horn……but power didn’t go in like you expected, huh?]

Hearing Rem’s moan, the young man chuckles with a complacent smile.

Just like the young man said, forget about power surging in her hands and legs, Rem’s horn was dying down in proportion to its radiance. There weren’t even any strange problems with her horn sucking in the mana in the atmosphere. If that was the case──

[Rem: The mana……]

[???: is being interfered with, yes. I was born with this nature. I randomly contaminate the mana around me. If it’s in my surroundings, the mana turns into poison. That’s why it was easy to take control of your village.]

[Rem: ────]

Being told the shocking truth, Rem was at a lost for words.

The Onis are admired as the strongest race among Demi-humans. Rem had thought that it didn’t make sense for them to be annihilated in one night by witch cultists, even if there were disadvantages like it being a night attack and a difference in numbers. Her suspicions were cleared after finding out that the young man had an unusual ability that was the worst for the Oni horn.

As long as she was faced with the young man’s special characteristic, the Oni horn was invalidated──no, more like a detrimental result would be caused.

That’s how the witch cultists cornered the Oni clan, her father, and her mother and killed them──

[???: And so, the few survivors, you and your sister, will fall prey to us too.]

[Rem: E─even Nee-sama……!]

[???: Of course. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been worth going through the trouble to do all sorts of cheap tricks. We worked really hard for you and your sister. Although……]

Stopping there, the young man looks at the center of the explosion, whose fumes were still not settled down yet.

[???: I’d thought that the Margrave was going to be the biggest obstacle, but I didn’t expect him to get blown away this easily.]

[Rem: ────]

[???: Surprisingly, it was no big deal. There were rumors saying that he is the strongest magic user in the kingdom, so I even brought forces, thinking that he was going to give me some trouble.]

Around the young man tilting his head, dark shadows suddenly appear in the dragon carriage from every direction. Countless shadows dressed in black from their heads appeared as if coming out of the ground.

The unmistakable stink and malice, without a doubt, were the witch cultists──.

[???: Now then, what’s left is the fun of choking you out and retrieving you with your sister. I’ll be expecting you to act honorably as a descendant of the prideful Oni clan.]

The young man grabs her neck harder as he said that scornfully. Rem, getting exhausted, couldn’t fight against the large amount of harmful mana being taken in. Even her thoughts slowed down, and her eyelids were strangely heavy.

[Rem: ──Ah]

Ram, Roswaal, Frederica, Clind, Grace, and the maids come to her mind.

And yet, everything was swallowed up by the darkness of her distant consciousness──

[???: ──Al Goa]

Just then, a crimson red fire blast swirled in the air, and the surrounding dark shadows were blown away with the heat weave.

[???: Wha──!?]

The young man, suddenly seeing the produced blast and soil, raised his voice in surprise. Without a pause, the young man reflexively jumps back, and attempts to get away from danger.

[???: You little…..!]

However, Rem didn’t overlook the fact that the young man turned his attention away from himself. Rem shook off his arms right away, and she escaped his control as she fell to the ground. Her body got held up in someone else’s arms.

They were surprisingly strong arms, and Rem knew this feeling. It was──

[Rem: ──Roswaal-sama!]

[Roswaal: Now I’ve saved your life three times. Peeeerhaps now’s about the time you should seriously think about how you’ll pay back your debt for real.]

Roswaal winks at Rem, who gave an applause while being held by him. No doubt about it, he acted calm because of his use of magic, and it also made Rem’s eyes shine, who still felt tired.

Keeping his distance while looking amazed, the young man shrugs his shoulders at Roswaal, who didn’t even have any burn marks on his clothes and was standing in his way.

[???: Oi oi, I’m beaten. I did consider the possibility of you not getting killed by that, but you not even getting scratched sure as hell didn’t cross my mind. What kind of magic did you use?]

[Roswaal: That’s a secret. Unlike a certain someone, I’m not an idiot who shows off his own cards for self saaaaatifaction. Anyhow, that sure is a troublesome nature.]

Roswaal responds sarcastically to the young man who had talked about his own special characteristic, and he looks down on his right hand. While opening and shutting his palm, with one eye closed, he said,

[Roswaal: The mana around turns into poison. In other words, the space becomes very troubling for magic users. To think that Ur magic can actually repress power to such an extent…]

[???: ……Usually you wouldn’t be able to cast magic freely either, and yet you pulled it off. I’ll have to give you props for that. But, this place has to feel uncomfortable for you, huh?]

[Roswaal: It sure does. Buuuut, apart from that……]

While staying cautious of the witch cultists slowly closing in, Roswaal looked at the young man profoundly. Then he let Rem down from his arms. After being saved by Roswaal from a predicament, strength somehow returns to Rem’s hands and legs, and she felt like she could even run.

However, Rem couldn’t fight at all without her horn. Although, the Oni horn was useless in this situation, anyways. Rem came here, and she was held back by her own powerlessness again.

Seeing Rem look like she was going to cry, Roswaal tugs his chin in and says,

[Roswaal: Listen, Rem. I’ll take care of this place. Return to the mansion, and save Ram and Grace. ──I want you to take care of that.]

[Rem: Roswaal-sama!? But……]

Roswaal’s proposal to split up and have him handle a dangerous situation surprises Rem.

Around them, witch cultists were flooding in and it didn’t even seem like they lost numbers after the first attack, and the young man who was a magic user’s worst enemy was still in good shape. Roswaal’s disadvantage was as clear as day.

But at the same time. Ram and Grace were left at the mansion defenseless. That was also terrifying to Rem.

She hesitated and worried. An answer wasn’t coming to her. Even so, time still passed cruelly──.

[Roswaal: Rem, leave this up to me.]

[Rem: ────]

[Roswaal: You should relax. Also, allow me to deeeeeemonstrate. ──Demonstrate how your master is the strongest magic user out there. I’ll burn the limbs of that enemy over there and give them to you guys.]

As Rem’s eyes widened, Roswaal pointed at the young man and declared that confidently. Those words made the young man make an unpleasant expression, but after Rem blinked several times, she nodded deeply.

Her master said that much. And they certainly had created a bond for her to believe that.

[Rem: ──Good luck.]

[Roswaal: You and Ram get home safely, too.]

Rem bows, and she starts to run away from that place at once. She had far from enough power to dash without relying on her Oni horn. But still, Rem kicked the dirt and broke through the enclosure.

Of course, the witch cultists brandished their cross swords over their heads and threw themselves at her, but──

[Roswaal(?)2: El huma. El fura.]

The swirling wind carries slashes of ice, cutting up the dark shadows throwing themselves at the girl carelessly. The blood gushing out freezes, and the slashing blood cuts up another dark shadow. The damage spreads.

And so, meanwhile, Rem was leaving the battlefield at full speed without turning back once. That was the indication that she trusted in him to protect her back, no matter what.

[Roswaal: I did hope that she’d trust me innocently like that, but it does make me feel ticklish.]

[??? You’re quite calm, huh, Margrave. Do you not see what the situation’s like?]

With a firm voice, the young man speaks to Roswaal, who watched Rem go off with a slight smile on his face. The boy, who had kept his calm up until then, glares at Roswaal, who was in front of the dragon carriage, and said,

[???: The situation has changed a little bit, but the forces to kill you are still alive. Plus, that Oni girl will still have a bad time once she gets back to the mansion. You are cruel.]

[Roswaal: Hmmmm, that seems to be a bit different from the flow of events I see.]

[???: How interesting.]

[Roswaal: Not even. It sounds like your source of confidence are at the mansion……but my Oni sisters, who I’m proud of, will deal with them. Unfortunately, you guys will also turn into dust with me here. Oh, but you’re the only one that’s going to get captured alive, so don’t fret. Your life should be taken away by the two of them.]

Completely relaxed, Roswaal calmly states that while putting up his hands. Rather than getting angered by that attitude, the young man puts his hands together with an impressed expression and claps.

[???: If you can talk big that much in a situation where you can’t even work out mana properly, then color me impressed. Man, I can’t wait for those sisters to turn into dead bodies with their original form still there……guess I’ll deal with it by using you.]

The young man smiles delightfully all of a sudden, and that’s when the witch cultists around him started to move simultaneously. The dark shadows prepare the weapons in their hands, and they went to tear the lone man limb from limb.

[Roswaal: You’ll ‘deal with it’. ‘Deal with it’, huh. That’s a pretty cocky way of putting it.]

Inside this silent delusion that completely covered his vision with black, Roswaal checks on the dead bodies lying in the back──in the dragon carriage─that disastrous scene, and he sighed.

And then──

[Roswaal: ──I guess I’ll make up for Dudley’s death by taking your guys’ lives.]

4

The first one to sense a change with the situation was Ram, who had steeled herself for her sister’s absence.

[Grace: Ram-chan?]

Grace tilted her head curiously at Ram, who looked up in the middle of the conversation. Ram directed a narrow-eyed look out the window without responding to those words at all.

The mansion’s atmosphere completely chills, and the sound of the wind felt silent. Bitterness mixes with the dry atmosphere, and while tasting the increasing tension with the tip of her tongue, Ram quietly squinted her light pink eyes.

The change in the atmosphere irritating her skin─that was a sign of a hunting ground.

For Ram, as someone who was born in an Oni village among the mountains, hunting signs and her daily life were inseparable. Of course, the adults never took a young girl like her to go hunting, but she went into the mountains without telling them, and killing stray mabeasts wasn’t just a one or two time thing.

It was not hunting for fun, but a procedure necessary to measure her own capacities accurately.

Although, Ram was also proud of her innocent sister praising her enthusiastically every time she told her that she’d killed a mabeast. It’s just that she’d never told anyone other than her sister about her actions.

Getting back on track, what Ram felt in the manion’s surroundings at this time was that sort of hunting sign that reminded her of the past. However, there was one point that was clearly different.

A change in her position──here, at this time, Ram was not the hunter, but the hunted.

[Ram: Neither Roswaal-sama nor Rem are here……]

They were vulnerable. This couldn’t possibly be just a coincidental attack. Something had to have happened to Rem and Roswaal after they were lured away from the mansion. ──But, Ram’s mind was as calm as possible.

She was worried about Rem, but Roswaal was also with her. Though she hated to admit it, as long as Rem had that master dressed as a clown by her side, her life wouldn’t be exposed to danger.

The current problem was this person next to her who didn’t have those two to protect her.

[???: Ram-san, what have you been……]

[Ram: ──Get ready to move Grace-sama immediately. In this occasion, lifting her up will have to do. Furthermore, call the guards in the mansion right away.]

[???: ────]

The maid, who had a dubious expression, blinked in surprise, becoming dumbfounded upon hearing Ram’s instructions. That reaction made Ram want to click her tongue, but she couldn’t blame her for not having sense of urgency.

Because Ram and the others were the ones who brought this attack’s danger into the mansion, after all.

[Ram: Anyhow, just do as I say. This mansion is──]

Without trying to convince her, Ram raises her voice to force the best course of action. However, before she declared that, an intense impact was pushing up the building from below.

[???: ──]

A roaring sound and a shock appears at the maid’s feet, making her lose balance, and she fell to the floor as she screamed. Ram also felt such a shock that she had to kneel down on one knee, and she jumped onto the couch immediately. On it, there was Grace, holding onto her stomach, her beautiful face pale from anxiety and shock.

[Ram: ────]

“I have to protect them”, is what Ram thinks instinctively.

For Ram, that was something she would very rarely feel for anyone except for Rem. However, Grace, with how she was now, made her act like this, and she just naturally judged her to be someone that she ought to protect.

──She had no horn.

But, even so, there still was the blood of the reincarnation of an Oni god flowing within her body.

[Ram: ──Look.]

She puts her determination and her secret skill to use.

Ram started using “Clairvoyance”, a secret skill of the Onis’, without the mana that would normally circulate through the horn. The power goes around the Miload residence ─ its limited range ─ and finds an existence that could synchronize with the kneeling girl’s mana, even though it was just slightly. ──Just then, Ram’s field of vision suddenly opened.

[Ram: ────]

It was red, a very red scene.

The bottom and top of her field of vision were dyed bright red, and a figure was blurred over and over while flickering. It had to be because Ram’s target was wildly writhing on the floor.

Her vision was red, red as far as she could see. It wasn’t deep red that made her think of blood; it was bright red that reminded her of bright light. This is what people call flames.

The person who Ram borrowed her vision from gets engulfed in flames, and now was the exact moment she started burning to death.

[Ram: ────]

Seeing that cruel scene didn’t crush Ram’s heart. She focuses on finding a clue inside the vision dyed red. Once the body she’s borrowing vision from dies, needles to say, the connection breaks. If that happens, then the owner of this body dies in vain.

That couldn’t happen. She wouldn’t let it. Get a hold of something, just something, no matter what──.

[Ram: ──!]

A figure passes by the corner of her vision, and right after Ram gasped upon seeing it, the connection breaks. It was proof of the target of the magic being burned by flames and dying once and for all.

But, she obtained a clue. In exchange for her death, she obtained information on the attacker. However, it was Ram’s worst enemy.

What went through her vision was a large, muscular, short-haired man──Ram had encountered that man once before in red scenery like the one happening right now.

It was when she was surrounded by her kind’s burnt corpses in the Oni village burning down. That disastrous scene.

[Ram: A thief has broken into the mansion’s east wing. Guards are rushing over, but half of them have been burned. I can’t say that this place is safe either. Let’s move somewhere else.]

[???: Th─thief, no way……there must be some mistake……]

[Ram: Did you not hear the shaking and noise just now? Moreover, the thief is actually the witch cult……I saw their black clothes come into mansion outside the window. Must I explain even further?]

The maid who couldn’t accept reality for a moment gazes in wonderment upon hearing ‘witch cult’. They were words convenient for making her understand that this was an emergency. The unfortunate thing was that it wasn’t a lie, but the truth.

This was a terrible attack by the witch cult to eradicate the Oni clan.

[Ram: In any case, it would be stupid to stay in this mansion. You are too insistent on keeping Grace-sama here. We have to move her.]

[???: But we can’t put such a burden on her! She should stay he……]

[Grace: No, let’s do what Ram-chan……no, what Ram-san says.]

It was Grace who interrupted the objecting maid and agreed with Ram in a firm tone. The pregnant girl sits up in the bed, and despite having a pale face, she stared at Ram with courageous eyes.

[Grace: You’re Roswaal-sama’s dear child. I’m positive that you are capable of making the best judgements.]

[Ram: ……If that disgraceful title helps, then I won’t deny it in this situation.]

[Grace: Aww, you don’t have to be embarrassed.]

Ram responds to Grace, who acted unexpectedly relaxed. Then, the rabbit eared girl who’d been watching them rolls up the sleeves of her maid outfit.

[???: O─okay, understood. I’m ready, too. Madam, it’s going to be a little uncomfortable, but please grab onto me.]

[Grace: Yes, Limrear, if you would.]

Even though her arms were thin, demi-humans are demi-humans. The rabbit eared maid──Limrear picks up Grace in her arms, and Ram put her ears against the door out the room as she watched that. No presences in the corridor. For starters, they had to move.

How long was it going to take for Rem and Roswaal to break past the witch cult and return to the mansion? She had to escape from the attackers hiding in the mansion until they did──.

[Ram: It’s definitely easier said than done.]

Most likely, that was going to be a hopelessly difficult obstacle.

However, as Ram said that out loud, she didn’t let the two of them with her notice her anxiety whatsoever.

5

And so, their fierce escape play began on the stage, the Miload residence.

The three of them leave Grace’s bedroom, and they escaped upstairs for now. After just a few tens of seconds, there was the sound of the bedroom downstairs breaking in the mansion, proving that Ram’s judgement was correct.

[Ram: Although, it really sucks how I can’t be proud of it at all even though I was right.]

Ram speaks her thoughts while she held her breath in the room she ran away into.

After muttering, almost in a whisper, she used ‘Clairvoyance’ and strived to find an escape route. Inside the mansion, there were several people hiding from the witch cult attack, just like Ram and the others were. For now, she had to guarantee Grace’s safety by borrowing their ─ the girls’ eyes.

[Ram: I can’t really say that it’d be wise to stay in one place. Fortunately, there aren’t many enemies. Let’s move.]

[Limrear: But that’d be dangerous……]

[Ram: This’ll get hit at some point if we don’t move since the pursuer is hitting places one by one. Besides……it seems they aren’t that naive, either.]

Sensing presences nearing downstairs, Ram tells the two of them to run away while they still have places they could run to. They exit the room, and run off to a different wing, carefully destroying their traces so they don’t get caught by their pursuers.

Relying on her secret skill and insight, Ram grasped the attackers’ characteristics pretty much correctly.

He was a witch cultist who was the village’s enemy. He was invading the mansion by himself. She was sure of that after what she’d seen. However, this wasn’t information that she could accept with open arms.

Since he was alone, this proved that he has the power to take control of the mansion on his own. In fact, as Ram checked her memory, she came to the conclusion that they were at a disadvantage.

If they fought, their chances of winning were slim. But even if they weren’t, they’d get burnt to death once found. That’s just a cold, hard fact.

[Limrear: In that case, can’t we go through the garden and flee outside the premise?]

[Ram: ……Someone has already tried that and failed. As for what happened, that’s better left unsaid.]

Hearing Ram’s cruel explanation, Limrear understood that she’d lost her coworker, and she was at a loss for words.

When she was using ‘Clairvoyance’, she saw her target forcefully trying to run away from the mansion and she ended up failing.

The reason being because of the invisible explosive spells set outside the mansion──it was the trap used by the witch cultist Roswaal had kept in the mansion before.

Most likely, there were countless of the same kind of traps set up around the mansion. Evade that carefully, escape, and don’t get found by the witch cultist. ──That would be impossible.

[Ram: He’s scrupulous with preparations, and on top of that, he’s excellent at pursuit……it’s as if he’s reading the wind.]

The pursuer, on top of blocking their way out, was definitely cornering them, and it made Ram grind her teeth.

The distance between them and the enemy had neither decreased nor increased since leaving Grace’s bedroom; they were getting nowhere. His pursuit magic was excellent. He was so crafty that Ram praised him without exaggerating.

[Ram: ────]

Time passed and passed, and the silence starts to spread heavily between the three of them. They speak less about focusing on escaping, and everyone besides Ram had their faces turn pale slowly.

They hadn’t run into any of the other servants in the mansion, not even once. Surely the two of them weren’t thickheaded enough to not understand what that meant.

And so, Ram’s heart also tore apart when the pursuer, who they couldn’t shake off, came to mind.

[Limrear: ──! Ram-san, you’re bleeding.]

[Ram: ……It’s no…big deal.]

Wiping the nose blood Limrear pointed out, Ram grinds her teeth while breathing heavily.

Ram’s body had already passed its limit a long time ago from the repeated use of her secret skill. Her headache and the buzzing her ears wouldn’t go away, and her hot head and body were strangely heavy. If she lost focus, she’d probably fall to her knees soon after.

Ram was able to prevent that from happening precisely because she had tough force of will. ──Still, it wasn’t so far from its limit. Sooner or later, it would definitely fail.

[Ram: Why……]

Is this body so fragile? Why does it have so many problems just from doing something?

Irritation with herself is exactly what she felt since her time at the village.

[Ram: ──Damn it.]

[Limrear: Ram-san! Please, that’s enough. Don’t force yourself!]

Limrear supports Ram’s unsteady body, and she turns around. And then, while holding Grace, she went into a nearby room she had her eyes on, bringing Ram along.

[Limrear: Anyway, let your body rest for a little bit……]

[Ram: ──, You idiot, this room is]

Limrear speaks considerate words, and Ram’s voice gets covered up as her eyes widened.

But, she was still late to stop her, and the three of them looked straight at the scene in the room.

[???: ──Ah]

It wasn’t clear who let out a sigh out of the three of them. That question was just blown away by the scene they were faced with, right before their own eyes.

──Piled up messily at the corner of the room were several burnt corpses turned into black.

Although she couldn’t tell with her nose clogged with blood, the room was most likely filled with the stench of burnt flesh. There were at least 10 corpses lying on top of eachother. It almost felt like the evaporated, hollow eye sockets were giving them a resentful, empty look.

[Limrear: ────]

[Ram: Careful……]

Next to her, Limrear falls to her knees with a ‘thump’. Grace, who she had in her arms, almost gets thrown down to the floor because she lost her strength, and Ram just barely caught her.

Still, it was understandable. Limrear’s long bunny ears sag, and she continued to shed tears from her eyes, stupefied as her voice wouldn’t even come out.

[Grace: How could…they……]

And so, Grace, who’d been rescued from falling down, also received unfathomable shock to her heart. She was shaking her head over and over in denial, staring at the burnt corpses in shock.

Ram grinds her teeth, seeing their reaction, as she thought, “I’ve failed”.

Ram felt a lot of regret for letting them see this scene. Not encountering corpses even once was supposed to be the bulwark to protect their hearts. That condition was broken once they saw these cruel, burnt corpses right in front of them.

And then that shock led the situation to a vicious spiral.

[Grace: ……Ah…koo]

[Ram: Grace-sama?]

Grace, who had been stupefied with the disastrous scene, had the color of anguish go across her profile, and Ram knits her brows. It was clearly a reaction different from the surprise she had upon seeing dead bodies. In fact, Grace’s breathing became heavy, sweat appeared on her forehead, and she was going to collapse on the spot.

[Ram: Grace-sama? Grace-sama, pull yourself together! Fainting here now would be……]

[Grace: N─no, you’ve got it wrong, Ram-san……that’s not it……]

Grace holds onto Ram’s sleeve as she called out to her, and she shakes her head with a look of pain. That reaction makes Ram’s eyes widen in confusion, but she noticed it right after.

At Grace’s feet, a large amount of liquid was dripping from her nightgown. It was something caused by being faced with a horrible scene──how nice that would be if that was the case.

[Ram: No way, her water broke……!?]

A part of Ram’s knowledge on the flow of events for childbirth came to mind, and her voice trembles.

Once Ram said those words, Grace held onto her big belly and hung her head. It was nothing other than her clenching her teeth and dealing with the on and off pain.

Her water broke, and then she had labor pains──although the order was incorrect, they were signs of one’s first childbirth, and it was expected for them to happen at anytime for Grace as someone who was entering the last month of pregnancy. But she had to say that this was the worst time.

The worst time for labor pains to start in a situation where they were being attacked by witch cultists and the whole mansion turned into a battlefield.

[Grace: ──Ah…hou…oo]

[Ram: ────]

Grace breathes in and out painfully, grabbing onto Ram’s arm, and her hands were full of strength. It was such a grip that you wouldn’t believe it was coming from a girl with thin arms like hers, and it made Ram’s head spin fast while she dealt with the pain.

The witch cultist wouldn’t slow down his pursuit. Still, dragging Grace around with her current situation was impossible. It’d expose the mother and the child to danger. And she couldn’t give birth here, either──.

[Ram: Limrear! Limrear, snap out of it!]

[Limrear: ────]

[Ram: Limrear!]

With a dry sound, Ram slaps Limrear’s cheek. That shock makes Limrear topple over, and her eyes widen as she held onto her hit cheek.

Ram shouts at the maid.

[Ram: Carry Grace-sama into a bedroom nearby! Get hot water and lots of clean cloth! That’s as far as my knowledge goes. Now you just have to do something!]

Even a genius like Ram could only understand the surface when it came to stuff like knowledge on childbirth. However, Limrear, as the pregnant woman Grace’s maid, should’ve been trained in case of emergencies.

Roswaal was thorough in that area. Thus──

[Limrear: U─under─understood……I will…take care of her……but, the witch cult]

[Ram: ──I’ll take care of them.]

Ram, while standing back up, says that to Limrear, who somehow came back to her senses. Although two of them gazed in wonderment upon hearing her declaration, Ram confidently takes out the staff she’d equipped on her thigh.

It was a staff she was comfortable with, made out of her own horn──as of now, it was unpleasantly reassuring.

[Ram: Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourselves. Giving birth to a child is a major task, much more difficult than my cleaning that’ll begin after this.]

As Ram said that while preparing her staff, she braced herself to face an unavoidable battle.

6

──Feeling that Ram was straight ahead, he came to the corridor where Ram was standing in without hesitation.

[???: ……Oh.]

Appearing at the end of the corridor, the man lets out a sigh in admiration upon seeing the girl standing dauntingly. Hearing that sound, which sounded like excitement in a way, Ram truly felt disgusted.

However, her fighting spirit and anger were stronger than her disgust, and they burned it into nothing within an instant.

The anger towards the witch cult ─ her kind’s enemy and a symbol of unreasonable fate ─ flared up in her light red eyes.

Seeing those angry eyes, the large man shrugs his shoulders in an unconcerned manner.

[???: Why has a little Oni, who had been running everywhere, suddenly decided to show up?]

[Ram: To put it as ‘running all over the place’ is extremely wrong. I was not running; I simply walked without caring about anyone. Not catching up to me, not finding me, whichever slip-up it may be……don’t blame me for your own incompetence.]

[???: It seems you are the one who is mistaken, little Oni.]

The man, with a low and muffled voice, objects those provocative words spoken by Ram, who smiled. When Ram squinted as she heard his reply, the man put leaf tobacco, which he took out of his pocket, in his mouth. And then,

[???: You’ve been running away ever since that mountain village died down, right? I’m asking how did you end up showing yourself here.]

[Ram: You sure know how to run your mouth well. ──I’ll sew that mouth my way.]

[???: Hmph.]

While watching Ram, who twirled the staff in her hand and expressed her fighting spirit, the man cracked his knuckles. Just then, a faintly produced spark lights the end of the leaf tobacco. With a deep breath, he breathed tobacco smoke.

[???: You have fighting spirit, but I don’t sense any strength. I came to burn the reincarnation of an Oni God, a real Oni……but I guess I was off. The real one has been taken by Sergey. Unlucky.]

[Ram: ──You sure do enjoy stupid hobbies, Faust.]

[Faust: ──Fogg must be the one who couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He was an awful apprentice.]

Having his name guessed correctly, the large man──Faust spat out those words apathetically. Although Ram agreed with his opinion on Fogg, she tilted her head upon hearing ‘Apprentice’ and questioned him.

[Faust: He’s an arson apprentice. It makes sense to kill people, destroy things, and burn things. However, not everyone could do all that. If there isn’t anyone to teach it, then the skills won’t spread. So, I take the initiative and do so. It’s a practice that is a hobby and it has benefits.]

[Ram: ────]

[Faust: Even the witch cult is desperate to enlighten people. Lately, there’s been no hesitation to convert those with no interest at all in their ideas into believers. Their deviousness is comfortable to evildoers.]

While enjoying the taste of tobacco smoke, Faust talks about his position thoroughly. The details go through Ram’s eyes, and her hornless forehead starts to ache terribly.

She tilts her head without speaking of the sort of pain that felt like her skull was being pierced with a drill.

[Ram: In other words, although you help the witch cult, you aren’t influenced by the witch. In that case, why did you help burn down the village?]

[Faust: I thought I told you. It’s a hobby and it has benefits.]

[Ram: Meaning?]

[Faust: I love fire. Plus, I wanted to try burning Onis. I wanted to know the smell.]

Stating that, Faust spits out the shortened leaf tobacco and said,

[Faust: Everyone loves rare things, right?]

[Ram: Yes. And so I’ll let you smell one of the rare smells in this world.]

He drops the leaf tobacco onto the carpet, and the tip of the fabric burns with a scorching sound.

That becomes a sign, and Ram kicks the floor with her small body and starts sprinting. Faust raises his palm towards the girl running like the wind and says,

[Faust: What rare smell?]

[Ram: The smell of you being burnt to death. The best lingering scent in the whole world.]

Her sharp words make Faust deepen his smile, and the next moment, his thirst for blood explodes.

Ram senses the concentration of heat in the space up front, and she evades the threat with a jump to the side. The produced blast grazed her cheek right after she blinked, but she steadied herself and continued on.

The invisible explosions──Rem had already saw through that trick. It’s a special magic where he can cause explosions on the spot by setting up magic formulas in the air beforehand. It definitely would’ve been very troublesome for her without her background knowledge. However, once she’d figured out the trick, it was no big deal.

Rem had exposed it with her sense of smell, but Ram saw through it by the disturbance in mana right before the explosions.

[Faust: Wow, not bad.]

[Ram: Kohhh──!]

Faist dodges her first attack, and he ignited countless spells while falling back. While he freely covered the corridor with explosive flames, Ram avoided fatal wounds with her supernatural body movement.

Yes, she avoided just the fatal wounds. She couldn’t avoid her arm getting lacerated, her legs getting burnt, and her hair burning. But they were still miraculously minor injuries once you considered the amount of explosions and the scale of them.

There were no interferences in the battle, and she got close enough to get hit.

[Ram: ────]

She clenches her teeth and bears with pain. The pain was not only coming from her wounds, but her exhaustion as well.

Her body could fight for a long time, but it could not fight perfectly. Besides, she suffered defeat against Faust even when it was perfect. Her chances of winning were slim from the start.

Still, even if they were slim, she’d take her chances. As long as she fought, she wouldn’t think about stuff like losing.

In many situations, Ram was forced to fight. Ram’s options to not fight would get ruined one by one, and she’d choose to fight. However, she would never make excuses when she had no other choices.

“Do it, and I’ll win.” That was a belief Ram told herself──,

[Ram: Al Fura!!]

──Because it was an essential will as the proud older sister of Rem, her cute little sister.

Fierce, magical power concentrates at the tip of the staff she stuck out. Without a pause, it completely covers the Miload residence’s spacious, long corridor just like that, constricting it.

The ‘Al’ rank is magic praised as the highest ranked power in wind magic, ‘Fura’.

Ram, without her horn, was even easily manipulating the enormous amount of mana an ordinary person needed to summon up in order to use it, despite it being an unreachable level of skill.

[Ram: ────]

The wind rages, like an intense force of a gigantic dragon, and the building gets ravaged by a sharpness that not even a treasured sword could compare to, making it lose all of its original form. The carpet tears into pieces. The pottery disintegrates without a sound. The windows crush like grains of sand. The paintings go from pieces of paper to fine powder.

The windstorm destroys people’s eardrums, tearing through their bodies by breaking into the holes in them. Once that destruction blew through, all that’s left was a scene without any bloodstains.

[Ram: Ha…ah……]

Ram drops her shaking staff, and she falls to her knees on the spot while breathing hoarsely.

It was an all or nothing maximum firepower attack where she threw in everything. Hit the opponent with your trump card when he starts taking you lightly and achieve victory──there was no other way to win.

Fatigue suddenly weighs on Ram’s body, and as she looked down, blood dripped from her face onto the floor. She couldn’t tell if it was coming from her nasal cavity or her painful horn wound. Ram just bore with the urge to fall over at once and tried to stand with her shaking legs.

If the battle was over, then she had to report that to Grace and the others. And then they’d move to a more safe and clean place for childbirth──

[Faust: How about I give you a hand there, young lady.]

[Ram: Kooa──]

Without being given the chance to respond with her voice, Ram’s body gets lifted up easily.

Her head was caught, and her legs were in the air. A strange man with finely chiseled features comes into Ram’s vision.

It was Faust. He lifted lifted Ram with his right arm, and was fixing his hair with his left arm. In his behavior, there were practically no signs that he’d been caught in the destruction.

[Faust: I really enjoyed your trap card. But, you were unlucky.]

[Ram: Un…lu……]

[Faust: I didn’t expect your trump card to be related to wind. That’s my specialty. I was the one who taught Sade how to read wind. I know how wind protection works.]

By looking at Faust, she knew that he wasn’t lying. Even Faust wasn’t unharmed by that murderous wind. However, most of his important organs avoided injury, and he wasn’t dealt any hard blows that could be called severe wounds.

She had certainly put in her whole soul into the attack, and yet this was the result. She’d completely missed her chance to win.

[Faust: However, you haven’t lost your fighting spirit. I like those eyes. Just like an Oni. They’re genuine.]

[Ram: You…should’ve…seen many of them…at the village……]

[Faust: I said real ones. I wanted to burn a real Oni. That wish hasn’t come true yet. ──I’m just sad about you. You’re such a great wind user that I want to make you my apprentice.]

[Ram: ────]

At the last second, Faust strengthens his grip on her neck. While having her thin neck crushed, Ram stared fixedly at Faust without letting the pain show on her face.

It looked like Faust was impressed with her courage, and when he suddenly pulled her face close to his, he said,

[Faust: I thought there’d be no use in asking, but I’ll try. Would you become my apprentice? We’ll stand out, be famous, and go around burning anything and everything.]

Faust asks her that, almost sounding like he was saying “It’ll be fun”.

When Ram heard that excited man’s sigh, she took a breather while having both ringing in her ears and a headache.

[Ram: I had…always…thought that…]

Ram says that in somewhat of a careless tone, and she looks at Faust, who was right by her. And then, without any hesitation, she spat on his face. There was saliva on his cheek. Looking at that, she says,

[Ram: When your heart is rotten to the core, your face becomes dirty. ……You should clean your face with my spit.]

Despite being on the verge of death, Ram smiled with a face that couldn’t look any more triumphant. Seeing that smile, Faust’s eyes brighten intensely.

[Faust: My apologies for my initial impoliteness. You are the real deal. No doubt about it, you’re it. Which is exactly why I’ll pay my respects and burn you to nothing──]

Faust wipes off the spit on his cheek with the back of his hand, and he faced the window while grabbing Ram. Most of the wall facing the garden was blown away by the aftermath of the magic, and the courtyard could be viewed from the third floor of the colonnade.

Contrary to the aspects of the mansion that turned into a disastrous scene, the garden remained in a peaceful state, such as the water fountain and the carefully trimmed garden trees and flower beds. Although, there were already countless spells set up in the garden to prevent escape, and they still should be intact even now.

[Faust: Once the explosions start at one spot, it causes a chain reaction. Don’t you think it’d be a magnificent and splendid farewell gift for a genuine Oni like yourself?]

[Ram: ……Ight]

[Faust: ──?]

Faust was talking about paying a tribute to her, but Ram murmured something in a muffled voice. That makes the man knit his brows, and he bent his ears to hear her murmuring.

Ram mutters something again, and it was almost like she was talking deliriously. What she said was──

[Ram: ──More…to the right, Rem.]

──Right after that, an iron sphere of destruction struck Faust from above his head.

7

──I made it.

I made it. I made it. I made it…I made it…I made it I made it I made it I made it I made it I made it I made it I made it──.

[Ram: ……Nee-sama!!]

[Ram: You came back. Nice job, Rem.]

Ram smiles at Ram, who hugged her bloody sister and came through the eruption of smoke. Her exhausted sister smiled, but Rem still nodded vigorously with tears in her eyes.

Rem barged in and attacked, causing the partially destructed mansion’s corridor to completely collapse. The floor of the 3rd floor and the 2nd floor passages crumbled, making them into one. When Rem, who kicked away the debris and stopped moving, wiped off the blood on Ram’s face, she rubbed her cheeks against her chest and checked her heartbeat.

She feels her hot body and her beating heart, and she lets out a sigh of relief and happiness.

[Rem: Thank goodness I made it……]

Her grievous voice sounded like sobbing, so Ram gently patted Rem’s head that she rubbed against her chest.

Rem, who had been caught in the witch cult’s trap on the main road, left Roswaal behind, and retreated to the mansion. After she escaped the mana contaminating zone that restricted the power of her horn, along the way she pushed her body and continued running until she reached her limit. All while being guided by the synthesia that could be felt between twins.

She also made it past the garden set with invisible spells because of the synesthesia from Ram. She avoided the garden, jumped onto the building from the outer wall, arrived walking on the roof, and threw an attack.

And so, Ram was rescued safely, and here they are.

[Ram: Where’s Roswaal-sama?]

[Rem: He was fighting a lot of witch cultists at the main road……but he told me to leave them up to him.]

[Ram: I see. In that case, if, say, he does die, you don’t have feel responsible. Besides, it’s not like he’ll die, anyway.]

Ram’s strange trust in her master. Those words allow Rem to recover strength in her heart that had been uneasy. Seeing the light of her sister’s eyes, Ram smiles slightly.

And then──

[Ram: Then we’ll have to finish the cleaning before Roswaal-sama gets back.]

[Rem: ──Yes. It’s our 462nd work together!]

As Ram declared that, Rem stuck her chest out and carried her sister on her back since she couldn’t move. After that, when she turned around to the enveloping eruption of smoke behind, she pulled back the iron sphere she had brought down. The sound of chains rattle shrilly, and the iron sphere with thorns rolled to her feet. However──,

[Rem: There’s no blood. So, I didn’t kill him.]

[???: ……Though I did hear that you’re a blockhead that just has a horn, if anything.]

Rem, who judged whether the man was dead or not based off the existence of bloodstains, feels only signs of a wry smile coming from the smoke. What eventually came out of that smoke and walked forward was a large built man. The man puffs out tobacco smoke from the leaf tobacco he had in his mouth, and he looked at the sisters with deep interest in his eyes.

She sniffs. She couldn’t sense a witch cult like smell, but──

[Rem: I will not hold back against men who have hurt Nee-sama and wronged Roswaal-sama.]

[Ram: ──It’s Faust, one of the enemies. One of the remaining two.]

[Rem: ……Then this is terrific.]

Rem’s hostility increased regardless of her opponent’s background, and Ram added the last fuel to the fire. Ram raised an eyebrow when she heard Rem’s response, but Rem enlightened her without turning around.

[Rem: The person Roswaal-sama is fighting with is one enemy. The remaining two have been gathered. ──We can accomplish retribution.]

[Ram: ──Yes.]

Ram answers Rem’s quiet voice briefly

For a moment, she felt like there was intense emotion in that reply, but Ram immediately got rid of it and said,

[Ram: Let’s avenge our kind.]

[Rem: Yes, Nee-sama.]

Rem gains strength from her sister’s next words, and she advances with her on her back.

Rem’s horn shines even brighter, and the white light fills her whole body with overwhelming power.

Seeing that before his own eyes, Faust smiled happily, rather than getting scared.

[Faust: The Oni sisters are all together, eh. Sisters born from the same woman’s womb…I wanted to see the differences between the smells of a real Oni and a fake Oni. That wish will have to be granted.]

[Rem: Obviously Nee-sama smells better.]

[Ram: The opportunity for you to confirm that will never come.]

They have somewhat of an aloof exchange, and three──two of their shadows clash.

With her sister on her back, Rem rushed to the front with everything she had in her.

Ram, who turned in her arms, continued to hold on tight, and she left everything up to her sister’s will. Feeling that she had to prove herself worthy of that trust, Rem struck Faust’s body with her left hand with all her might.

[Faust: ────]

Faust takes Rem’s fist attack, which was strong enough to smash a large tree and even twist an iron plate, from the front without showing any intention of dodging it. The power of her fist that hit the middle of his crossed arms makes the large 100 kilogram man blow back like leaves of a tree. Easily, like he didn’t weigh anything.

[Rem: So light──!]

Contrary to the flashy way he flew away, it felt light on Rem’s hand, and so she raised her voice. At the same time, Faust, who was blown back, disappeared into the smoke. He gains distance, and hides himself. It was a temporary measure.

Rem was going to chase after him, but she stops right before she did. Instead, she threw her iron sphere sideways at the smokescreen. The iron sphere makes a circle in the direction of the missing wall, and she mows down everything lurking in the smoke to pulverize him.

The iron sphere is something that spins and has brutal thorns. If one is directly hit by it, their body simply turns into meat, and even if they’re just grazed damage to the limbs is unavoidable. However──,

[Ram: Rem! Look out above you!]

[Rem: ──!?]

Hearing Ram’s sudden warning, Rem falls backwards while crossing her arms over her head. Ram was sandwiched between the floor and her back, but the damage was minimal──facing upward, right after she thought that she saw the ceiling got cracked, explosive flames come down along with Faust.

Because of Rem’s hit from earlier, the 2nd and 3rd floor passages were connected. Faust made use of that, slipped into the smoke, moved from the 2nd floor to the 3rd floor, and surprised them from the top floor.

[Faust: Your reading is top-notch. A real Oni’s insight.]

He swings his legs downward like a broadaxe, and the impact grinded against Rem’s crossed arms. She barely managed to defend against the power with her iron handle, but if she didn’t have that, her arms might’ve been smashed.

However, although Rem withstood that power, the second floor passage continuing to crumble couldn’t.

[Rem: Ah──]

She feels the floor breaking behind her back. Within a blink of an eye, her whole body is taken over by a floating sensation. Rem forces her body to twist in the air, lands with her limbs like a mouse, immediately kicks the ground, falls back, and attempted to escape Faust’s pursuit. Over there──

[Rem: Nee-sa……!?]

Hearing a sharp cry with synthesia, Rem stops and jumps back. The next moment, Rem gets shaken by the blast produced before her eyes, and she was flicked back even further.

The explosive spell in itself had the same nature Fogg’s magic. And yet, Rem’s sense of smell didn’t react to the signs. Come to think of it, Rem’s nose hadn’t been reacting to Faust since the beginning.

She didn’t know why. Her fear got the best of her before she could find out. The moment Rem lacked the ability to smell her opponent that emitted a miasma, she went back to her pathetic, no-horn self.

A being back at the village who couldn’t do anything but have her sister’s back──.

[Ram: I’m fine, Rem.]

Ram, on Rem’s back, whispers that in her ears as Rem blocked pebbles and hot wind with her arm.

It was the world’s most precious voice that was kind, passionate, and full of unconditional deep affection.

[Ram: ──Believe my words.]

Rem forgets about the situation and listens Ram’s beloved voice that always loved Rem, was affectionate to Rem, and always guided Rem.

And so, in the very little time she was given, Ram clears Rem’s doubt, who became silent.

With her words that would always free Rem from doubt.

[Ram: ──Because I’m Rem’s world’s best Nee-sama, and you’re my little sister.]

Right after that, a blast and explosive flames completely covered Rem’s vision all at once.

It was an inescapable, chain of explosions that practically cut off Rem. However, in response to those explosions, Rem walked towards them calmly, and she went into the shock wave.

[Rem: ────]

Right now, Rem could understand the thoughts of her sister, who was close enough to touch her, faster with synesthesia than with words.

Through those communicated senses, Rem grasps all of the positions of the explosive spells Ram saw through, and she slipped through while keeping impact to a minimum.

While Rem protected her sister from the explosive flames and blasts, as if she was dancing and twirling, the horn on her forehead shined.

[Rem: Oh, that’s right…..]

It was a muttering voice that didn’t escape her mouth. Nobody heard it, and it was etched in Rem’s mind and nowhere else.

She remembered it. She had forgotten. Her stupid self immediately lost her decision and resolve.

It should’ve been decided from the start. She came to Roswaal, and swore to get retribution for her kind. Or maybe it was even further back on that fiery night when her sister wailed while she watched the glimmer of her broken horn──.

[Rem: I am…Nee-sama’s horn. I am…Nee-sama’s hands and legs. I am…Nee-sama’s──]

The being identical to Ram, who was the most precious Oni, deemed the promising reincarnation of an Oni God.

When Rem caused her sister to lose her horn and felt ‘──’ when she saw her without her horn, she made a decision.

[Rem: ──I am…Nee-sama’s substitute. That’s my role, what I’m proud of, and what I live for.]

She breaks out of the blast and mows down the explosive smoke with left hand. On the other side clear of smoke, Faust was smiling in admiration at Rem, who got past countless explosions.

[Faust: A fake Oni and a lacking real Oni have made……]

[Rem: Shut up.]

Rem interrupts the man in the middle of his speech, and she hits the man with the iron handle in her hand. Faust took the Oni’s hit with his raised left arm. His arms gets crushed, and it almost sounded like eggs cracking. His body gets penetrated, his bones fly out, and the madman laughs insanely while the scattering blood splatters onto his cheeks.

What shot at the same time as that vague, strange voice was a steel blow shining weakly. Faust shot a rod-shaped concealed weapon he’d kept in his sleeves, aiming for the horn on Rem’s forehead.

What came back to her mind were a village dyed red, her kind burnt to death, and Ram wailing──

[Rem: ────]

She flips up her head, and with her open mouth, she bites onto the piece of steel approaching her forehead, stopping it. Two of her left canine teeth get blown away by the impact. However, Rem focuses her strength onto her jaw without caring, and she crushes the steel instantly.

[Faust: Well done! But……oh?]

She smashes the concealed weapon, and Faust, who applauded, uses that chance to jump back. He gains distance, and was probably trying to reset. However, she wouldn’t allow that choice.

The iron sphere she controlled just by twisting her wrist circumvents the smoke and catches Faust’s back. The imperfect hit gouges his flesh with thorns, and the power crushes his spine.

Still, it was good enough. It stops him from moving. Just doing something unexpected was good enough.

[Rem: Ah…ahhh…AHHHHH──!!]

Rem roars at the top of her lungs, and she punches Faust’s jaw from beneath with her fist.

The power of her punch breaks his jaw, and Faust’s tall self was blown upward. Afterwards, Rem jumped and punched her opponent who couldn’t move in the air over and over tempestuously.

[Rem: AHHHHHH──!!]

She hits, crushing his bones. She hits, and his flesh burst open. She hits, rupturing his intestines. She hits, and his limbs break. Every hit was a hit for her kind’s revenge──.

They fly from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor, from the 2nd floor to the 3rd floor, out of the 3rd floor’s ceiling into the 4th floor, out of the 4th floor’s ceiling and finally into the sky above the mansion.

[Rem: ────]

Rem, who went through the ceiling into the air, had her vision dyed in deep red.

It was neither flame nor blood; it was the red of a sunset dying the world warmly and majestically.

It was a scarlet sky that had absolutely nothing to do with countless corpses, creating one’s deathbed, and the man who believed in the red of blood and fire──.

While watching that sky, Rem positioned herself right above Faust, who was spinning, and──

[Ram: Rem.]

[Rem: Yes, Nee-sama──]

Once Rem’s name was called, she gave Faust the hardest hit while replying with deep affection.

[Faust: ────]

Faust takes a severe hit to the guts, and his body falls to the ground. After getting hit by the might of Rem’s fist, his body descends diagonally, and it crashed right into the middle of the garden.

Faust was struck without defense at a height of tens of meters high, continued to have his body showered with grand blows, and was at the verge of death. However, he still had life in him. He was gazing at the sisters in the sky.

[Faust: ────]

It looked like his mouth was whispering some sort of curse. But, his voice didn’t reach the two of them.

And so, Faust’s words would never make their eardrums vibrate again.

[Ram: One who wields a sword falls to the sword. One who clings to a devil dies falls to the devil. One devotes oneself to flames falls to flames.──]

Rem, who landed on the roof and had her hair fluttering in the strong wind, hears Ram’s whisper.

It was a complicated voice that felt very sentimental despite being apathetic──.

[Ram: Thou shalt be destroyed by what thou relied on. ──That shall be what puts our kind’s souls to rest.]

Ram says that, and she throws something that she’d held at her fingertips at Faust, who was in the garden. It was extremely light, and it went towards the madman’s chest, as if being carried by the wind.

──It was something one would light the tip red, his leaf tobacco that he smoked.

[Faust: ────]

The moment that leaf tobacco reached Faust, the set up spells activated.

Countless spells detonate consecutively. The explosive flames of the blast with Faust in the center sweep over the garden in one go, and it changes into a sea of flames.

Whether it be due to the fire power or the force of the flames, the madman’s fate was easy to imagine.

Just like Ram said, the man who relied on fire turns into ashes, and he perishes.

[Rem: Now, it’s ove……r…right?]

While kneeling and watching over the blazing park, Rem murmurs in amazement.

Faust…died. Rem murdered Fogg, and Ram killed Sade. And Sergey, the one recognized as the remaining one, should be fighting Roswaal around now──.

[Ram: As long as Roswaal-sama isn’t getting beaten……that is.]

[Rem: It really……it really is…all……]

She couldn’t even hear Ram’s dishonest words. That’s how unreal it felt.

She was absorbed in the last battle, but it felt like she wasn’t fighting by herself. She let everything up to Ram, and fought with power she wouldn’t be able to bring out herself, being controlled by Ram.

That’s why──

[Ram: It makes sense for you to feel uneasy after all kinds of things got settled so suddenly. It probably won’t feel real until later. ……But, I’ll just say this.]

[Ren: What…is it?]

[Ram: ──Now, finally, ‘Steamed Potatoes’ are unbanned, and I can eat your steamed potatoes.]

Ram joking voice and smile makes Rem dumbfounded within an instant.

However, Rem immediately feels the urge to smile, and so she does so with her blue eyes full of tears.

[Rem: Nee-sama, you truly are a big eater.]

[Ram: Yes. Rem’s steamed potatoes are my source of life, after all. They’re what’s most important.]

Rem smiles even more, and at the same time, she felt tears on her cheeks. But she still kept smiling. Seeing that, with a sigh, Ram rubs her forehead against her sister’s forehead.

And so, the Oni sisters who achieved retribution thanked each other for their efforts, unseen by anyone else──.

And that let them know that this was the end of their retribution as they were wrapped in the red of the setting sun.

8

The night of a the baby’s first cry had already came, and it was the dawn after that night.

[Rem: ──]

Rem, who felt both tiredness and a sense of accomplishment, had been napping on Ram’s shoulder, and she woke up as she was startled by a cry that was loud enough to be heard inside the mansion.

[Rem: Nee-sama……]

[Ram: You’re awake, Rem. Don’t worry, I’m here for you.]

Once she looked towards the warmth close to her, she saw Ram sitting down next to her, nodding with sleepy eyes. Judging from the cry that Rem could still hear even now, she immediately understood that something had happened.

She understood that Grace, who had been fighting with the pain of giving birth this whole time, was done fighting.

[Roswaal: Sounds like it’s been born without prooooblems.]

The one who talked about Rem’s realization instead was Roswaal, who’d been waiting in the same room for the result. His outfit was neither messy nor dirty; he was his usual self.

It was very hard to believe that he’d annihilated the 20+ witch cultists that had surrounded him.

It took just about an hour for Rowaal to drag back the last enemy to where Rem and Ram defeated Faust. All of the other witch cultists were annihilated, and only Sergey, the so called young man that was their enemy, had been restrained with his limbs broken.

Rem didn’t know how Roswaal dealt with a circumstance where he couldn’t use magic perfectly and smashed the witch cultists, but seeing him come back safely made her feel relief from the bottom of her heart.

Now, retribution has been achieved. Now all that’s left was Grace’s childbirth and──

[Rem: ……For Grace-sama to be informed of Dudley-sama’s death.]

[Roswaal: About that, you guys don’t have to take responsibility. I will tell Grace about him. When the opportunity comes. I’ll tell her. Please don’t say anything.]

When Rem showed him a depressed look, Roswaal shook his head to cheer her up. Not everything ─ yes not everything ─ can go back to how they once were.

Even in the mansion many servants became victims. Among them, Rem couldn’t suppress her sadness that she felt for the deaths of the maids who had been trained at the Mathers residence. And, the husband of Grace and the father of her child had died.

The damage to the Miload family was unfathomable. And so, if the witch cult was aiming for the surviving Onis, then it was all because of Rem and Ram.

[Roswaal: People should not get blamed mistakenly. Besides, we should be celebrating the birth of new life. Limrear and the others should be coming s……]

Then, when Roswaal was in the middle of talking, someone knocks on the door of the guest room used as a waiting room. When Roswaal responded to that sound, the door slowly but surely opened.

[Limrear: ……Excuse me, Roswaal-sama. Grace-sama’s child has been delivered.]

[Roswaal: Good work. Great job doing it without even having any help, despite it not being your speciality. You deserve the credit, no doubt about it. For taking over for Dudley, I thank……]

[Limrear: No, it was nothing…….anyway, Roswaal-sama, Grace-sama needs……]

Limrear shakes her head in response to the words thanking her for her work, and she pulls on Roswaal’s sleeve. Roswaal knitted his brows when Limrear, who had a white dress on top of her maid outfit, acted impolite. However, the reaction was not out of displeasure, but out of suspicion.

[Roswaal: Limrear……?]

[Limrear: Please, Roswaal-sama. ……We don’t have much time.]

[Roswaal: ────]

Limrear, face lifted, murmurs softly, and a large teardrop dripped from her eyes. That makes Roswaal show rare signs of being disturbed, and so he exited the room quickly.

[Ram: Rem, let’s go.]

[Rem: Eh…ah…okay…understood……]

Ram, who had been silent up this point, chases after Roswaal. Rem’s arm gets pulled by her sister, and she hurried out of the room after standing up. While she did, she passed by Limrear, who was crying, but she still continued to weep, crouching down on the spot.

Why was Limrear crying? A baby was born, and revenge was over. Now all that’s left was some sorting and cleaning, and everything should’ve been heading towards the end──.

[Roswaal: ──Grace.]

Roswaal opened the door to the room, stepped inside, and called Grace’s name.

It was the special guest room. Inside, there was a big bed for visitors, and Grace was sleeping on it in her nightgown. Next to the bed, there were many sheets dyed in blood, and there was a maid holding a baby that had just been washed with a yuto.1

It was a little, little baby. The newborn baby’s skin was dark red, and it was crying so much that its face was wrinkled like a monkey. However, it was lively and full of energy.

[???: Roswaal-sama, it’s a girl. A lively, cute girl……]

The maid holding the baby hands over her to Roswaal, who approached the bed. The maid had a shrill voice, and her eyes were bright red. When Roswaal accepted the baby from the maid, she covered her face, and her coworker next to her supported her shoulders.

[Roswaal: ……Grace, Grace. Can you speak?]

While holding the baby gently, Roswaal calls Grace, who was sleeping on the bed. Grace, who had been sleeping, opens her eyes when she hears her name, and she blinks several times.

Then, she looked at Roswaal and the baby in his arms and said,

[Grace: M─my…….baby……]

[Roswaal: Yes, yes it is. The baby belongs to you and Dudley. It’s an adorable girl. What’ll you name her?]

[Grace: I…have one. I’ve been thinking about it…for so long……]

Grace speaks fraily, her shaking arms come out of the sheets, and she reached for her baby’s cheeks with her finger. Her fingertips shake. Roswaal entwined Grace’s hand with the baby’s hand. The mother and her child feel each other, and tears flow from the mother’s eyes.

[Grace: Anne…Annerose……Annerose Miload. That’s her name.]

[Roswaal: That’s a great name. I definitely wouldn’t be able to come up with that one.]

[Grace: ……Yeah, because, you’re, you know, a very unskillful Master.]

[Roswaal: ────]

Grace smiles slightly, and she looks at the baby affectionately. Those words make Roswaal’s cheeks stiffen for a moment, but they quickly relaxed.

A smile is what came out after he blinked. It was the artificial smile hidden under his clown mask.

[Roswaal: Annerose. I’m sure she’ll grow up to be a kind, strong willed girl. Just like you.]

[Grace: And then, I hope that she’ll be loved by everyone, and will love everyone back. Just like you.]

In a delirious sort of voice, Grace talks about the future of her daughter and an imitative husband standing near her.

When the mother held onto her daughter’s fingers gently, the daughter gently held her hands back. Grace smiles the happiest smile possible, and she looked at Roswaal. And then,

[Grace: I love you. ……Thanks so much…for giving me happiness.]

[Roswaal: ────]

That smile makes Roswaal pause for a moment. To swallow something.

After that, he had a smile on his face. It was neither a clown smile nor an artificial smile.

[Roswaal: I…love you too. Forever and always……]

[Grace: Hehe……]

That reply makes Grace laugh. As if she had to let it out, as if she’d heard the best joke ever.

The unexpected response makes Roswaal’s eyes widen. Then, seeing his surprise, Grace says,

[Grace: Oh stop it. You aren’t as good at lying as you think, after all.]

[Roswaal: ────]

[Grace: Thank…you……Please…take care of…Anne……]

The words slowly break up like a dream.

Grace closes her eyes. She brings down her finger that had been feeling Annerose, her daughter. Once Roswaal supported Grace’s hand, he put it on her chest.

[Roswaal: ────]

Right after that, Annerose started crying wildly again.

She was a baby who didn’t know the world yet, but she still was loud, as if she’d understood what happened.

Influenced by Annerose’s crying, the maids in the room also start crying, one after another. The sobbing doesn’t stop. Everyone covers their faces, and starts crying loudly.

[Rem: ──Huh?]

Rem was the only one who was dumbfounded and couldn’t understand why they were doing this.

She didn’t know what had happened or what was happening.

Why was everyone crying? Why did Roswaal look so mournful? Why was Ram hugging Rem so hard?

She didn’t know. She didn’t want to know. And yet, tears welled up in her eyes.

[Rem: ──Huh?]

The tears didn’t stop flowing. While the sobbing tormented her throat, Rem crushes her sadness with doubt.

She couldn’t comprehend it. She couldn’t understand it. So, there was no reason to cry.

That’s what she thought, but the tears wouldn’t stop. Why couldn’t her stupid self figure it out, just this one time?

[Ram: ──I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Rem.]

Ram just apologized over and over in a painful voice while hugging her from above her head.

Ram wasn’t crying. But, the tears just weren’t coming out; it was actually different.

[Rem: Nee-sama, Nee-sama……]

Rem is Ram’s substitute. So, she cried for her sister, and shed tears.

These tears were for Ram, who was so strong that she couldn’t cry. They were true tears.

[Rem: ────]

So, she could cry all she wanted. Cry and cry, cry all of it out.

So that Rem could understand that she was crying to heal the wounds of Ram’s heart.

──Please, I beg of you, don’t make me think that these tears are for anyone besides my sister.

On this day, the head of the Miload family, Dudley Mload, and his wife, Grace Miload, were lost to the witch cult attack.

Because of this, Annerose Miload, the married couple’s daughter that had just been born, had to succeed the Miload family. However, Margrave Roswaal L mathers, as the guardian of the young girl, would also take care over the Miload family’s businesses and duties.

Because of that, a new business and new territory were gained by the Mathers Margrave, and there would be rumors saying that the Margrave was directing things from behind the scenes.

However, later on, Annerose Miload would grow up, and she’d deny the rumors in a conversational exchange in the future with the Margrave who’d formerly succeed the family. The Margrave was a good friend of her parents, and he would gladly give back more to Annerose that what he was given.

And only the Demi-humans at this time involved in this situation knew that they were the Margrave’s true, real feelings.

──Of course, the Oni sisters, who declared loyalty to their master, were also included among them.