Strike the Blood, Vol. 6 (light novel): Return of the Alchemist

by Gakuto Mikumo

  “But I have to apologize to you for something.”

  “What is it?”

  “I killed Kou Amatsuka. He was your apprentice, right…? I’m sorry. After he turned into that monster, I didn’t have any choice but to defeat him.”

  Kojou felt a heavy, dull throb in his chest as he confessed.

  He’d unleashed the power of the Fourth Primogenitor to annihilate Amatsuka after he’d turned into a bizarre monster. Kojou didn’t regret that. Someone had to do it. But that meant he had erased the existence of Kou Amatsuka for all time, nonetheless. Whatever the reason, it did not diminish Kojou’s sin.

  “Killed…? You killed him?”

  But Nina countered Kojou’s words with a tone that sounded rather dubious. The expression on her face was not that of anger or sadness; she was simply perplexed. She continued, “He is still alive, you know?”

  “…Eh?”

  “The Dummy Core he created loses its functionality upon his death. The fact that the Dummy Core is still active means his main body is still alive.”

  “Main body…?! Wait, you mean that he could split into more than one…?”

  Kojou remembered how the black stone had been destroyed when Amatsuka transformed into the liquid metal monster. But what if, just as Nina had split her own Hard Core from the rampaging Spirit Blood, Amatsuka had split himself off from his own body—?

  Then perhaps the Amatsuka Kojou had destroyed might have been just one piece split off from the whole.

  Nina added bluntly, “If he transformed into a monster, then there can be no mistake, for the man named Kou Amatsuka clings tenaciously to his human form.”

  I see, thought Kojou with a nod. Certainly, at the time Amatsuka had ranted about being unable to maintain his human form. Those words reflected the tenacity Nina was talking about.

  “Hey, what’s his goal, anyway? Does he want the Wiseman’s Blood so he can make himself immortal?”

  “I know not. Ask him yourself.”

  Seeing Nina give a flippant shake of her head, Kojou raised a brow in irritation.

  “You ditched him as your apprentice, didn’t you? Did that have something to do with this?”

  Nina flicked a bit of hair away from her cheek. “It may well have. However, I cannot recall what happened. It would seem that having been forced awake has caused gaps in my memories. Well, I am sure I shall remember in time.”

  Kojou murmured sullenly, “…Amnesia, huh?”

  According to Astarte, Nina Adelard was over two hundred and seventy years old; it wasn’t exactly surprising that your memory started to go at that age. Perhaps her odd levels of calm and confidence were products of her age as well.

  However, Kojou couldn’t reject the possibility that she knew Amatsuka’s objective and was hiding it from him on purpose.

  As Kojou’s suspicions grew, the woman taking Asagi’s form looked back at him and laughed with a pleasant oh-ho—and it reminded Kojou that she was standing there with nothing but thin silk wrapped around her.

  “Well, fine… For now, could you, uh, put on some real clothes?”

  As Kojou spoke, he sniffed and wiped away a touch of nosebleed.

  4

  Kojou brought in the cordless phone receiver from his bedroom. He had to look up the number he was calling in the phone book.

  It was an unexpectedly large amount of trouble to go through just because his cell phone had been wrecked. It definitely caused Kojou to reflect on how over-dependent he was on modern conveniences.

  However, Kojou’s labors were in vain, for all he received was a businesslike answering machine message before the connection was cut.

  “Dammit, I can’t get through!”

  Kojou roughly tossed the receiver aside as he slumped onto his rear. He’d tried to call Natsuki Minamiya. It was imperative to find the Wiseman’s Blood, still on the loose, and he wanted to talk to someone about how to deal with Asagi, too. Under the circumstances, Natsuki, with her Island Guard connections, was the only person he could count on. But no matter how many times he called, all he heard was the same answering machine message in a synthesized voice.

  “Geez, why is it a time like this when she’s not home?!”

  The self-described Great Alchemist, wearing Asagi’s face and sitting cross-legged on top of Kojou’s bed, asked, “Natsuki Minamiya, the Witch of the Void…is it?”

  She wore Kojou’s middle school track jacket and a pair of short pants. It was an uncool bit of fashion the normal Asagi wouldn’t be caught dead in, but that it suited her pretty nicely was a true testament to her ornate facial features.

  “What, you know about her, Nina?”

  “I have heard the rumors. Supposedly she is a witch of great skill that earned a name for herself in Europe. Though, from my perspective, she is still nothing more than a cheeky upstart.”

  “I bet most people look like rookies to you when you’re two hundred and seventy years old. Well, Natsuki really might leave a mark that’s remembered after time like that passes…”

  Kojou spoke with extreme bluntness as he remembered the sight of the small, little girl–like Natsuki.

  “And this witch may have located the Spirit Blood?”

  “Yeah. Well, there’s that, too, but…”

  Nina narrowed her eyes in suspicion at Kojou’s vagaries. “Do you have some other business with her?”

  “Yeah, school. It’s bad for Natsuki if arrangements aren’t made when Asagi’s absent from school.”

  Nina blinked with a puzzled look. “I do not mind going to school and impersonating ‘Asagi.’”

  She didn’t sound like she was joking.

  “Even if you’re fine with it, that’s a big problem for me! And we don’t have time for that anyway… We’ve gotta get ahold of that berserker Wiseman’s Blood.”

  “Ah, now that you mention it, that is true.”

  Nina hit fist to palm as she spoke, lacking the slightest hint of tension. Does she wanna do this or not? Concern surged within Kojou, but a fervent knock and the sudden opening of the door interrupted his thoughts.

  In poked Nagisa’s head as she said, “It’s fried gratin, Kojou! Asagi, come, too! Quick!”

  Yeah, thanks, nodded Kojou, with all the calm he could muster as he shooed his little sister away.

  “Look, Nina. Don’t talk more than you have to. Just shut up, listen, and pretend to be Asagi.”

  Nina smiled with Asagi’s face. “I am well aware. Like wine, I have grown finer with age. Copying the speech styles of today’s youth is a trivial feat.”

  She was full of confidence at least—not that she had any good reason for it.

  “Everything you say sounds so antiquated, you know!”

  Kojou was seized by even greater anxiety as he brought her out of the room.

  Four plates had been set at the dining table; the well-browned cheese on top gave off a rich aroma that filled the entire room. As Nagisa came in carrying the large plate, Yukina was right beside her, wearing an apron just like she was.

  “Er, Himeragi?”

  “If you’ll pardon me, senpai.” Yukina was setting the utensils, nodding to Kojou and Nina as they noticed her. No doubt she’d returned after making her report to the Lion King Agency. That she was wearing normal clothes underneath meant she’d somehow escaped her own humiliation game. “And, Aiba, do take care.”

  Yukina politely bowed her head at Asagi. Seeing this, Nina puffed out her generous chest.

  “Ahh, you were the Sword Sh—!”

  As Nina was speaking, Kojou brought his hand up to her face and pinched her nose. “Ah, mosquito!”

  Nina recoiled. Tears in her eyes, she glared at Kojou, but he didn’t let go.

  Yukina watched the intimate exchange between Kojou and Nina with some surprise. However, it seemed that even Yukina’s sharp intuition had not picked up on the crazy fact that a two-hundred-and-seventy-year-old Great Alchemist was in Asagi’s body.

  Nagisa giggled as she tore off a b
it of lettuce from the salad. “I met Yukina at the supermarket and brought her back with me. I wasn’t sure if I should say hello or not, though. She was deeply considering the candy counter.”

  Yukina’s cheeks reddened and she lowered her eyes. “I-I mean, Ms. Sasasaki said we had to keep candy under five hundred yen in value…”

  Kojou suddenly had an epiphany and asked, “…Himeragi, you’re actually pretty worked up about this trip, aren’t you?”

  Surely Yukina, who’d spent her days at the Lion King Agency training from dawn to dusk, had next to no experience with school trips. The very fact she was trying to hide it no doubt meant she really had her hopes up.

  For her part, Yukina rocked backward for once, a sure sign he’d hit the mark. “Eh?! No, I mean, worked up, not at—”

  “What are you talking about…?” Nagisa cut in. “Of course you’re worked up. It’s a trip with everybody, time in the hot tub together, pajama parties, pillow fights…”

  “P-pillow fights…?”

  Yukina audibly quivered at Nagisa’s tone.

  “Oh yeah,” Nagisa continued. “Then, since it’s a long trip, we’ll be trading love stories in the dead of night. Consider yourself forewarned.”

  “And lots of flowers? At the park with endangered plant species, on the afternoon of day three?”

  Even as Yukina went off on a tangent, her eyes glittered with expectation. Kojou was half in shock, gazing at Yukina’s radiant face from the side. “Heh, what, did you memorize the whole trip schedule or something?”

  “No, I did not go that far. I simply remember from having looked at the trip guidebook every night.”

  The particularly blunt tone of Yukina’s words made Kojou subconsciously avert his eyes. “Th-that so?”

  There was no longer any room for doubt. Yukina apparently was way more worked up about the trip than Kojou had ever imagined.

  “Man, I really can’t say it,” he murmured.

  Yukina tilted her head with a mystified look. “Say what?”

  Oh, nothing, replied Kojou with a smile.

  No doubt Yukina thought that with Kou Amatsuka wiped out, there was no longer any danger from the Wiseman’s Blood. There might be some small details to wrap up, but Kojou and the others had no need to personally intervene. Hence, she could enjoy her vacation secure in that thought. There was no way Kojou could turn around at that point and say to her, Oh, by the way, Amatsuka’s alive.

  Besides, Yukina couldn’t use Snowdrift Wolf at the moment. Surely there was no point in putting her in unnecessary danger.

  As Kojou dwelled on such matters, Nina quietly continued her meal beside him, pretending to be Asagi. Kojou was a little jealous of how she could be so carefree, but eating meant that she couldn’t say anything outrageous. He was grateful to get through it without arousing Nagisa’s suspicions.

  But speaking of Nagisa—“Asagi, there’s seconds if you want them.”

  “Indeed, I do. Your cooking is quite delicious. It has been some time since I have had such warm hospitality.”

  Just when Kojou let down his guard for a brief moment, Nina spoke with her own tone of voice on full display. A chill instantly went over Kojou, but if anything, Nagisa’s smile grew even brighter.

  “Oh, you make it sound like a big deal. You came for a bite not long ago when we gave Kanon her party for her hospital discharge. What’s with that way of talking, anyway? Some kind of fad?”

  Kojou hastily went along with the ride. “Y-yeah, exactly. It’s all the rage in high school!”

  For her part, Nina abruptly had a fond look on her face as she looked at Nagisa. “Kanon, you mean Kanon Kanase?”

  “…Hey, Nina…! I mean, Asagi!”

  Nina ignored Kojou’s chiding whisper and asked, “Is Kanon doing well?”

  That was when Kojou finally realized it. Kanon Kanase grew up at Adelard Abbey, so Nina knew who she was.

  Nagisa spoke while stuffing her cheeks full of gratin. “She’s still doing fine. If anything, she’s more cheerful than ever lately. She seems to be getting along nicely with Astarte, too.”

  Upon hearing this, Nina narrowed her eyes a bit and whispered, “I see…”

  5

  The mass of sludge oozed through the air duct and plopped onto the floor.

  The liquid-metal life-form was glossy and jet-black. It flowed onto the concrete floor, piling higher and higher until it finally took the shape of a man wearing a white coat. It was the shape of the alchemist known as Kou Amatsuka.

  He was in an underground parking lot, situated beneath an apartment building in the residential district of Island West. The interior was lit with LED lights as countless as the stars. The railway cars were locally manufactured in the Demon Sanctuary, all high-priced prototypes.

  The apartment building had a powerful anti-demonic ward spread over it, as well as cutting edge anti-crime devices, to protect it from intruders. However, this did not prevent an alchemist such as Amatsuka from breaking in. And now that he was already inside the ward, there was no longer anything to bar his progress.

  The girl was on the top floor of the apartment building. There, she hung around idly, forgetting both her role and her crime.

  It was not that he was jealous of this. But it was simply impossible not to hate her for it.

  Such were the thoughts in Amatsuka’s head as he walked toward the elevator. However, after taking several steps, yet not moving forward an inch, he stopped once more.

  His physical body had been bound by golden chains that stretched out from thin air.

  A voice came from a corner of the parking lot, accompanied by a small silhouette in an ornate black dress that seemed to materialize out of the blue. She had long, dark hair and pale skin, and even though the sun had already fallen, she carried a lace-rimmed parasol in her hands. The woman looked like an elaborate doll, all the more beautiful and frightening for it.

  “Do you know who lives here, filthy burglar? If you do, you have quite some nerve.”

  The contours of Amatsuka’s whole body melted away, allowing him to slip out of the golden chains.

  “Ahh. So you are Natsuki Minamiya, the demon hunter…”

  Even as she beheld the bizarre scene before her, the woman in the dress did not alter her expression whatsoever. “To think one could escape from Laeding, chains forged by the gods, in such a manner. Perhaps you should switch careers and become a stage magician? You might make a very good living at it, Kou Amatsuka.”

  “So I’ve heard.”

  Amatsuka’s right hand stretched out like a whip, wrapping around one of Natsuki’s slender ankles… Or it would have, had her form not shimmered like a mirage at that very moment, moving behind him. “Futile,” she spat. “Physical transmutation cannot affect my body, alchemist.”

  “So it would seem.” Amatsuka was not particularly perturbed as he slowly turned around. Judging that a straight fight was not to his advantage, he reached out to the parking lot air duct with tentacles, but every last one was repelled with a tinny, high-pitched sound.

  “I see… The barrier around the structure is not to prevent intrusion, but to keep captured prey from escaping. A wise decision.”

  “The vengeful queen of Aldegia asked me to capture you, after all. I’d meant to haul you straight off to the prison barrier, but you’re just an offshoot, aren’t you?”

  Once again, chains shot out from four directions, but this time they pierced Amatsuka’s body. Yet, there was no blood. The young man reverted to liquid form, freeing himself from the chains with ease.

  “Are you intelligent enough to answer my question, at least? Why are you still after Kanon Kanase? Surely you stole what you needed from her father?”

  “Because someone thinks that she’s in the way.”

  “…What?”

  For the first time, Natsuki’s expression wavered.

  Aside from her un-Japanese silver hair and blue eyes, Kanon Kanase was merely a student, not standing out in any way. He
r personality was reserved; she looked docile to the point of timidity. But she had a secret. The blood of the Aldegian royal family flowed through her veins, making her a powerful spirit medium since birth.

  If judged by her potential power alone, her spiritual strength was top rank, even by Demon Sanctuary standards, enough that her body could accept divine energy from the higher planes.

  Amatsuka touched his own chest as he spoke. “Besides, it is more than a little unfair that she be the only one to survive. This time, the tragic play from five years ago shall play until its conclusion.”

  The center of his chest contained a black gemstone. This, he crushed with his bare hand.

  “Why you…”

  This time, Amatsuka’s body completely lost all human shape, changing to that of a complete monster—an amorphous metallic life-form. From it spewed countless tentacles, bearing down on Natsuki, ready to rip her to shreds.

  “Ha-ha-ha-ha. You got carried away with yourself, Witch of the Void! Hurting this doll’s body will inflict considerable damage upon you, I’m sure. I’ll break it here and now!”

  The chains at Natsuki’s command couldn’t stop liquid-metal blades. Fully aware of this, Natsuki exhaled, gazing coldly down at the monster that was once Amatsuka.

  What emerged from behind her, ripping through the fabric of space, was a giant hand enveloped by golden armor. It was her Guardian—a mechanical, demonic knight. The giant golden arm created a wall of shock waves that blew back the countless blades rushing toward her, sending Amatsuka’s body flying along with them.

  Natsuki’s response was cold. “Hmph. Though I’d love to simply burn you in the fires of Hell, Hell is too good for a soulless shell. As it turns out, I was looking for a sample of Spirit Blood anyway.”

  With one wave of a golden hand, the ground below what had been Amatsuka transformed into a bottomless swamp of void. The clump of liquid metal furiously changed shape, but it could not escape the pitch-black mire.

  Natsuki was called the Witch of the Void because her specialty was spatial control. She had altered space itself to build an inescapable trap.

  “—Astarte, I’ll leave the rest to you.” Sounding bored, Natsuki called out to the homunculus girl waiting behind her.