Murder Princess and the Summer Death Camp

by Mizuki Mizushiro

  “……?!”

  Eiri’s expression stiffened as Shamaya laughed, looking like she suspected the truth. Biting her lip, she pressed the blade even harder into her captive’s throat.

  Blood oozed from her white skin, but Shamaya didn’t stop, despite the pressure on her windpipe. “So that’s how it is… It is not possible that the teachers missed such a weapon, now, is it? Knowing it was there, they must have believed that there was no threat in letting you have it… ‘At this academy, it’s best not to simply believe things that you hear only from the person concerned.’ …Yes, that certainly is the case.”

  “…Shut up.”

  “You have killed six people. I heard that from the people in first-year Class A who heard your self-introduction. However, Miss Akabane…you have—”

  “I told you to shut the hell up!” Shouting, Eiri tried to plunge the knife down in one go—but she couldn’t do it. The hand that gripped the knife trembled slightly, and her eyes wavered.

  Shamaya’s smile intensified further, tinged with insanity. “You can’t kill people. Perhaps you were able to kill in the past, but now it’s impossible. As someone who can kill, this is as clear to me as day. Your eyes are not those of a murderer. That is why you will be killed—by me!”

  The next instant, Shamaya launched into motion. Ignoring the knife pressing into her, she raised her left arm, and struck Eiri in the side of the face.

  “…Guh?!”

  As if following Eiri, who had immediately pulled her face away, next came Shamaya’s right arm. Eiri tilted her head and evaded the thrust, which had been aiming for her throat.

  “Come now, it is time for you to die!” Immediately: a left thrust. Eiri had jumped up off of Shamaya and, having risen, Shamaya pursued her savagely. Her own deadly weapon was lying on the ground—only for her to snatch it up in her right hand. “I’ll show you how a model killer does it! Noooooowww!!” She slashed diagonally upward, unleashing her attack from a stance low to the ground.

  “…Tch!!”

  Eiri dodged by a hair’s breadth. On her face was an agitation that she could not fully conceal. She was overwhelmed and overpowered by her opponent’s ferocity, and beat retreat after retreat as Shamaya hectically pursued.

  She swung the hatchet around as if possessed, slashing and slashing and slashing and slashing and slashing with all her might. “Come, come, come, come on and die already!! Quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly! I want to see you die! I want to watch you cry and scream, you stubborn girl!”

  “Gah…this is…!”

  Swinging left and right but never too wide, the blade of the hatchet aimed for Eiri’s vital areas. She managed to dodge by a paper-thin margin. She leaped around, leaning her body, tilting her head, bending her upper body, blocking the hatchet’s trajectory with the small knife in her hand—

  “Gyah?!” Tripping over a rock as she landed, she lost her balance. “Ugh?!” Unable to recover, Eiri toppled to the ground. Preoccupied with the blade of the hatchet, she had neglected to pay attention to her footing. It was an error that her usual composure would never have allowed.

  “—Tch?!”

  Eiri moved to pick up her dropped weapon, but Shamaya was faster. She kicked the small knife lying on the ground and sent it flying, then calmly looked down at Eiri, now disarmed.

  “……Ah.”

  “Oh-ho-ho! I beg your pardon, Miss Akabane! The Public Morals Committee does not select students only on the basis of their good behavior and academic results! Naturally, our records as killers are also considered. I am the chair of the Public Morals Committee, a position for which only the strongest may compete. I have been training diligently since my first year at the academy. You are no match for my strength!” Shamaya looked at Eiri, whom she had cornered, with a satisfied smile.

  “But…be that as it may, you…seeing you like this, you look very sweet! You tried so hard, so I want to kill you slowly and deliberately. When I do, what kind of face will you let me see? What kind of voice will you let me hear? What kind of heart will you let me glimpse? Ahh…I’m really looking forward to it! Now, what shall I destroy first? Fingers, arms, legs, shins, thighs, buttocks, belly, shoulders, chin, mouth, cheeks, ears, nose, eyes… Your heart I shall hold in reserve for the very last moments! Oh-ho-ho-ho! Ahh, you truly do have a beautiful body. I really do want to torment you before I destroy it! Ha-ha!”

  “……Eee!” Eiri let out a short shriek as Shamaya’s eyes, tinged with insanity, crawled all over her body. Her firm expression had fled, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

  With bloodshot eyes, Shamaya drew closer, her breathing growing increasingly ragged. “Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what is with you?! You’re pretty…you’re too pretty! Ha-ha! This is truly one of those things… I can’t help but kill you, yes… I’m compelled to do it! Before your screaming voice, I will make you raise a different peak…ha-ha. Not a scream, a climax—Huh?! No, stop! Stooop it! I’ve already set my heart on a girl named Miss Kurumiya…but she really is pretty… I want to tease her, oooooohhh!”

  “N…nooooooooooo!!”

  “Wait, heeeeeeyyy!”

  Kyousuke shouted at Shamaya, who stood looming over Eiri while still holding the hatchet. His voice was a roar; he hoped to drown out his fear of Shamaya and grief over Renko. He charged in a suicide attack toward the two of them locked in a grapple.

  Shamaya stared but quickly regained her composure. “You stay out of my way!” With demonic speed, she swung the hatchet back and forth in a rage. As the thick blade, wet with bright red blood, arced toward him, Kyousuke—

  “Aaarrrggghhha!” With the back of his hand, swung at just the right moment, Kyousuke deflected the blow from below.

  “Wha…?!” Shamaya was astonished at both his unusual courage and his reflexes. As she lost her footing, Kyousuke fired off his right fist, trying unsuccessfully to strike her.

  “Don’t underestimate meeeeeeeee!” Using her momentum, Shamaya skillfully spun around. Coming from the other direction, from the back side of her body, again she swung the hatchet in a sideways chop.

  “Whoa!!” As he ducked out of the way in panic, the blade passed over Kyousuke’s head—where his neck had been just moments before.

  Kyousuke felt a tinge of fear at the width of his narrow escape but kept his eyes fixed ahead. The instant that the hatchet blade passed, he had kicked off the ground like a track runner crouching at the starting line.

  “……?!”

  Shamaya nimbly avoided a tackle that should have connected. However, perhaps because she had seen the threat of Kyousuke’s potential in his style, she moved to distance herself, retreating about ten feet. The two of them squared off against one another, having exchanged places.

  Shamaya lifted the hatchet up again, and fixed her wary eyes on Kyousuke. Met with unexpected resistance, she tried to calm her wild breathing as she spoke. “You… What the hell are you? You move like an amateur, but you’re formidable. Your physical strength, of course, but also your wits. You seem like you’re extremely experienced at this! It’s been a long time since someone has given me this much trouble. I must admit, it’s shaken my confidence a bit…”

  However. Shamaya brushed her hair back. Looking at Kyousuke, who was standing as if to protect Eiri, she nodded, in apparent satisfaction. “Mr. Kamiya…you are certainly of great interest to me. Though you face death, rather than run away you enter the fray to help a lady… You’re a dreamy knight in shining armor, aren’t you? I wonder, how long can you maintain that brave composure? I’ll tear off that gallant mask. And your true nature—I’ll show the world your naked face!” Shamaya smiled, licking blood off the hatchet blade.

  Kyousuke searched for the words that could somehow persuade her not to kill them, but none came. He didn’t have the slightest idea what to say to get her to stop this killing mania.

  “Mi-miss Shamaya…”

  As I expected, it looks like there’s no choice but brute force. Against the Murder Princes
s—who had twenty-one murders to her name, who even now continued to polish her skills, who was considered the foremost killer at the academy—Kyousuke wasn’t sure if he could survive this, especially without killing her. But he was driven to continue fighting—by anxiety, by fear. Before his eyes, Shamaya slowly lowered her stance.

  “Well, then, here I come again, Mr. Kamiya. The experience cultivated from twenty-one murders, and the crystallization of skills fostered by the guidance of the teachers… I shall show you them both! Your arms, your legs, your head, your heart—I’ll cleanly remove them for you! Oh-ho-ho!”

  In a craze, Shamaya raised the hatchet, preparing to strike. Thick steel the color of fresh blood and eyes the color of emeralds sparkled in the moonlight.

  “Please stop, Miss Shamaya!”

  At that moment, a heartbroken scream rang out.

  “Stop, please… Please stop, Miss Shamaya…”

  At the repeated entreaty, the smile faded from the blonde’s face. The voice called out desperately to her as she stood unmoving, hatchet still raised.

  “I’m begging you, stop… Please don’t hurt them any more than you already have!” Mustering what little strength it had, once again the voice cried out.

  Shamaya did not turn to look behind her but just sighed. “…What are you saying this late in the game? Did you think that if you begged me so, that I would say, ‘Yes, yes, I understand,’ or something, and accede to your pleas? How stupidly optimistic! If you were hoping to persuade me, you’ve had quite the opposite effect. You can’t save them, so just shut up and tremble. That suits you better, Miss Igarashi.”

  Maina held her tongue and hung her head, clenching her fists. Weakly, she asked, “…This is my fault, isn’t it?”

  “—What?” Shamaya, who had turned her attention back to Kyousuke, looked back in annoyance.

  Maina, who suddenly raised her face, stared into her emerald-colored eyes. “It’s my fault, isn’t it, Miss Shamaya? Because I did all kinds of terrible things to you…that’s why! This is unbearable—”

  “Yes, you could say that.”

  “……?!”

  Her worst fears confirmed without hesitation, Maina’s facial expression stiffened.

  Lowering the hatchet, Shamaya stroked the gauze on her cheek, face warped with hatred as she spoke. “No matter what the cause, the fact that I was made to endure a disgrace like that in the presence of the general public…it’s only natural that I should feel resentment. Of course, that is not the only reason. The attitude of Miss Hikawa, who ridiculed me at every step; the speech and conduct of the defiant Miss Akabane; the existence of the obscene, base, vulgar, savage Mr. Kamiya, who I find so viscerally repulsive…”

  Here she went a bit far, clearly twisting the proverbial knife intentionally.

  “They made me so angry… Of course I took an interest in them! Even if you had done nothing, I still would have wanted to kill them. Of course, if that particular incident had never happened…at least, I don’t think it would have come to this.” Brandishing her blood-soaked weapon, Shamaya sneered.

  Renko, head caved in, still lay unmoving on the ground where she had fallen.

  “All of you piled up the gunpowder together…but you were the one who set it alight, Miss Igarashi! Feigning clumsiness, pretending it was an accident… If only you hadn’t tried to kill me, your dear friends would never have had to suffer. Yes, that’s right… If only you hadn’t been there.”

  “”

  The moment that she heard those words, Maina’s trembling abruptly stopped. Her flax-colored eyes open wide. She stood silent, frozen in place. Bidding the unresponsive girl farewell with a derisive laugh, Shamaya turned back toward Kyousuke and Eiri.

  “……I’m sorry.”

  In a feeble voice, Maina apologized. Closing her eyes and dropping her shoulders, she chewed on her lip.

  Shamaya swept her hair back in annoyance. “Huh? Just because you apologize doesn’t mean I’ll forgive—”

  “I’m sorry!”

  She said it again, louder this time. Her eyes were looking not at Shamaya but at Kyousuke and the others.

  Her voice trembling, eyes trembling, fists trembling—Maina shouted. “I only drag everyone down. I’m of no use whatsoever. I’m nothing but a burden… I’m truly sorry! I understand that it’s no use apologizing, I really do. I don’t have the slightest expectation of being forgiven…but! At the very least, please allow me to fix my own terrible mistake! Because even I…even I can kill if I want toooooo!”

  At that moment, Maina broke into a run.

  “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

  “Wha—?!”

  She raised a battle cry like no other and charged straight for Shamaya, who was as stunned as the others.

  It was a reckless attack, the kind made by someone with nothing left to lose.

  “Maina?!” Kyousuke and Eiri shouted together. Shamaya, meanwhile, turned to her attacker.

  “What are you doing? Are you stupid? You… Do you want to be killed that badly?”

  Brushing her hair aside, she adjusted her grip on the hatchet and prepared herself.

  Unsurprisingly, with her eyelids squeeeeeezed tightly closed, Maina’s attack left her completely vulnerable. Shamaya leisurely raised the hatchet overhead, ready and waiting to bash Maina’s brains in.

  “Whooooooaaaaaa?!”

  However, predictably, Maina tripped spectacularly en route. She defeated herself before even reaching her opponent.

  “…Huh?” Shamaya lowered the hatchet and approached Maina’s position. “Ah. Now I understand. You really are quite the stupid little girl, aren’t you? I shall carve open that unfortunate head for you. Goodness me… Who knows if there’s even anything in there?! I suppose we’ll just have to find out—”

  “Whooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaa!” Without realizing how close Shamaya had gotten, Maina tried to leap up into a sprint. Her head smashed into Shamaya’s abdomen, like a head butt.

  “Oof!!”

  “Ah—ehh?!” Surprised by the unexpected obstacle, Maina reflexively threw her arms around Shamaya, who struggled and fought back with both arms. “Gyaaa!!”

  But Maina pushed through her defenses. Shamaya was thrown backward to the ground. Her head smashed dead center against a large rock lying perfectly in her path. She groaned in agony. “Owowowowowowowowowowowowowowowow!!”

  “Oh dear! Ah…it was a coincidence! Umm, umm…ehh?!” Picking herself up in a fluster, Maina noticed the hatchet. Shamaya must have dropped it, because the bloody lethal weapon was lying within reach, if she just stretched out to take it.

  “Wa…waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

  Maina brandished the hatchet with both hands.

  “Huh? Ah…aaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeee, noooooooooooo!!”

  Pinned, Shamaya shrieked and closed her eyes tight.

  The blade of the hatchet swung down at her face.

  Slam!

  “……Oh?”

  Voice flat, a nervous Shamaya opened her eyes. The blade that Maina had swung with all her might was stuck in the ground an inch from Shamaya’s cheek. Her eyes followed the blade, up Maina’s arms, to arrive at her face. Maina was—

  “……I can’t.”

  “Y-you—”

  “I can’t do it! Killing of my own free will is something…I just can’t do!” Maina screamed, looking like she would burst into tears any second. “Even if this academy really is a place to train professional killers…it’s impossible for me. Absolutely impossible! I-if I ever get to the point where I want to kill, I’d…I’d rather be killed! I’m sorry, you guys… It’s no use, but I’m sorry…waaahh…”

  The hand grasping the hatchet was shaking. Eiri mumbled, “Maina…”

  Hearing Maina’s words, and seeing her expression, Shamaya’s bewildered face was instantly tinged with reproach and resentment. “…What was that?” she growled, her teeth grinding. Staring into Maina’s eyes, she began to shout. “What the hell
are you?! You go about pretending like you won’t kill someone, and deceive them, and trick them… What on earth are you after? Even now, you… The way you’re behaving is just an act, is it not?”

  “It’s not an act!”

  Maina cried out in a voice loud enough to drown out Shamaya’s rage. Staring directly at the daunted-looking upperclassman, and trying hard to hold back her tears, she continued:

  “It’s not an act… I’ve always been clumsy, and foolish, and bad at everything except being a bother to everyone else…a worthless human being who ended up being so clumsy she killed people. But let me at least say this. Even I never killed because I wanted to… I never killed because I like killing!”

  “…You killed people because of clumsiness, you say? Of all the stupid things…”

  There’s no way that can be true! Shamaya’s statement continued unspoken as her lips grew taut before suddenly stopping.

  Shamaya’s face scrunched up as a single drop of clear liquid rolled down her cheek.

  “…It started with a boy in my class, my neighbor when we were assigned new seats in middle school. He was a very kind person…he always helped me when I would screw everything up. He would lend me things when I forgot them; when I dropped my pencil box, he would help me pick up everything; he would pat my head when I fell down and hurt myself and give me a bandage. I wanted to repay this kind boy just a little bit, to let him know my feelings of gratitude, so I…for the first time in my life, I cooked—I wanted to make a box lunch for this boy, who was always working hard at club activities.

  “That was the start of everything,” said Maina, her voice trembling.

  “Lunch break on a Monday…I worked up my courage, and presented it to him. His eyes opened wide, two perfect circles, and then he accepted it with a smile. I was so happy, my heart pounded. I watched attentively as he ate the food I’d prepared. I was wondering what kind of expression he would make after tasting it… What kind of feelings would he express? I wondered as I watched him excitedly. First, he picked up the rolled omelet with his chopsticks, and brought it to his mouth, and then—”