That was something he still wholeheartedly believed.
He wasn’t the same man he’d once been. If he needed Hina’s help, he had no problems asking for it. And this time, he hadn’t. That was all there had been to it. But he also realized why Hina didn’t find that answer satisfactory.
They were a couple. They’d promised to become a family.
There was no excuse for hurting her the way he had.
“Hina, I’m really, really sorry—huh? Is it just me, or are you squeezing me again?”
“Hee-hee-hee, it seems you still need some scolding. But, um, Ms. Healer? Is Master Kaito stable enough to hold long conversations?”
“Oh, very much so. And for patients prone to recklessness, being scolded by a family member is often the best medicine. Please, don’t mind me. Go ahead and be as hard on him as you want.”
“What kind of doctor are you?”
He’d been ambushed from a wholly unexpected direction.
Hina brought her lips close to Kaito’s ear, then blew gently on his earlobe.
A shiver ran down his body, and Hina began seductively whispering harsh words.
“Are you listening to me, Master Kaito? Battles constantly bring about unexpected developments. But even when time is of the essence, I forbid you from acting on your own. Even with the prowess you’ve attained in magic, you still have next to no combat experience. I am your sword and your shield, and you should make use of me whenever possible.”
Hina earnestly laid out her arguments. Their contents were sound, and more than reasonable at that. Kaito also felt a little like he was getting brainwashed. By the end, all he found he could say was, “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
Then the wooden door opened. A wolfman warrior stuck his nose in the gap and sniffed.
“Sir Kaito, how are you feeling? I’d heard you’d woken—oh, my apologies, I seem to be intruding.”
“No, no, you aren’t intruding! Come save me, Lute!”
“I beg your pardon. Do you find yourself in the need of assistance?”
Kaito gave a frantic shout. Lute stepped into the infirmary, his head tilted to the side in confusion.
Hina reluctantly drew away from Kaito. Then, after clearing her throat, she picked up the fruit that had been left by Kaito’s bedside. Slipping a knife out of her cuff, she began peeling it.
After listening to what the two of them had to say, Lute burst into laughter.
“Ah-ha-ha-ha! Well, if that isn’t mutual love for you. What a relief that your wounds didn’t amount to anything too serious! It seems your wife already scolded you for your recklessness, so I suppose there isn’t much reason for me to say anything more on that front.”
“Oh yeah. She gave me a good earful.”
“You really only have yourself to blame. Whenever I get hurt, my lovely wife here gets just as upset.”
“Wait, this is your wife?!”
Kaito let out a hysteric shout in spite of himself. Her mouth still hidden beneath cloth, the goatwoman healer waved at him. The gesture was playful, but her expression was as stoic as ever. Apparently, Lute’s wife was a much more levelheaded person than Kaito had imagined she’d be.
After grinning widely and returning her wave, Lute turned back toward Kaito.
“Ahem. Now then, Sir Kaito, if you have no objections, there’s someone I’d like to bring you to meet.”
“‘Someone’?”
Kaito parroted the word Lute had said, confused. It was then that he remembered the mind-boggling fact that they were currently in one of the royal family’s secondary residences. He reflexively corrected his posture. As he did, Hina lifted a chunk of fruit to his mouth. “Say ‘aah,’ Master Kaito.” Unable to refuse, he munched on the white flesh.
Although the situation had taken a turn for the comical, Kaito could still clearly make out Lute’s following words.
“Lady Vyade Ula Forstlast. My master, and the second imperial princess of the Forest King.”
The beastfolk had three kings.
They were the progenitors of all beastfolk: the Forest King, an ancient wolf; the Water King, a white deer; and the Wind King, a colossal hawk.
When the world had been remade, the Saint had prayed to God and created three intersex beasts. Their children were just as diverse as the rest of the beasts, and they worked to increase the beastman population and protect the land they’d been given.
Ever since then, the three of them had kept on living. Their existence was one of the primary reasons why faith in the Saint hadn’t found much popularity among the beastfolk—they lived under the protection of beings of legend to this very day.
Because of that, it was only natural that they didn’t revere the Saint to the degree humans did.
At present, the three kings lived and ate together, herbivore and carnivores alike, in order to prevent inter-beastman conflict, act as symbols of unity, and preserve the peace. But while they still contributed to society, the three of them had ceded power.
They had reigned since time immemorial. But they no longer governed.
Instead, they’d chosen several members from each tribe and appointed them as royalty, granting them authority and leaving matters of national politics to them.
And one such member of this nobility was Vyade Ula Forstlast, the second imperial princess of the Forest King.
The power she wielded was less than that of the first imperial prince or the first imperial princess. However, she had a private army in order to deal with matters of public security, and the way she’d used her own funds to maintain the towns under her supervision and manage the systems preventing the rivers from flooding had earned her the moniker of the Wise Wolf.
In fact, the zealous support she received from the populace surpassed that of even the first imperial prince.
And at present, she was sitting directly in front of Kaito.
How the heck did things even get to this point?
Faced with her majestic visage, Kaito’s mind was awhirl.
The lighting throughout the entire audience chamber was dim. Furthermore, the room’s delicately embroidered curtains cast whimsical shadows atop the stairs leading up to the throne. Their large floral design was gorgeous, yet at the same time, possessed the same solemnity a large, aging beast would. Concealed behind them, though, lurked a number of dangerous presences.
A number of soldiers were standing at attention, weapons held at the ready. Their nervousness was palpable.
You can’t blame ’em, given that their master is meeting face-to-face with a demon’s contractor.
On high alert yet seemingly defenseless at first glance, Vyade sat atop the throne and smiled.
She was a wolfwoman, and one with fur as white as the driven snow. The insides of her triangular ears were a lovely shade of pink, and a flower crown was perched between them. Her elbows were sitting atop beautifully arranged floral armrests. Just like the curtains, the layers of cloth she was wearing were delicately embroidered as well. As Kaito knelt in front of her, she called out gently to him.
“A pleasure to meet you, Sir Kaito Sena, our visitor from another world. I wish to extend my gratitude for your earlier efforts.”
“Yes, uh, ma’am. It’s a…great honor?”
“There’s no need to be so stiff. We would never dream of forcing our etiquette on a visitor of another race, much less one from another world. Please, be at ease.”
Vyade’s words were kind. Even after being told that, though, Kaito stumbled over his response.
Due to his experiences in his past life, Kaito held a certain amount of distrust and antipathy toward public authority. But the nervousness this woman was sparking in him was of another type altogether. It was the first time Kaito had ever found himself wondering if it was really all right for someone like him to be talking to a person of her status.
I guess there really are places where you can find people who’ve been aristocrats their whole lives.
“Or could
it be that you’re unaccustomed to beastfolk? If that’s the problem, then, here.”
A hard, clicking noise rang out. The air in front of Kaito began gently shifting.
A gentle fragrance floated up, and the soldiers’ stress became even more pronounced.
Whether he wanted to or not, Kaito immediately sensed what had happened.
Vyade had come down from the throne and was currently stooping in front of him. As he panicked over what best to do, he quickly found that his hand had been taken. A wolfish hand—one that, much like a human’s, had five long fingers—was wrapped around his. It was covered in soft, white fur and sported a pad in the middle of its palm.
If Kaito was allowed to be completely blunt, it was squishy, and felt kind of nice.
“How do you find it?”
Vyade gave a small laugh. Taken wholly aback, Kaito raised his face.
His gaze was met with a beautiful pair of blue eyes. Vyade showed him a warm smile.
“Ah, you finally looked me in the eyes. I really must thank you, you know. You fought for the sake of our people, not even hesitating to receive wounds. And as for you…”
Suddenly, she cast her gaze to his side. As she did, Kaito received a shock. Hina was watching Vyade grasp his hand, and the look in her eyes was terrifying. Kaito broke out into a cold sweat. But Vyade just gave a small chuckle, before reaching out her other hand toward Hina. Then she caressed Hina’s cheek as one would to comfort a child.
“I must thank you as well, Madam Hina. Your efforts were indispensable.”
“I—I am my beloved Master Kaito’s maid! It was all Master Kaito’s doing, so…I am undeserving of your kind words.”
“Hmhm. Now that the two of you have been kind enough to look at me, let us speak of what is to come.”
Vyade lightly rose to her feet. Then, with the springy footsteps of a young girl, she returned to the throne. But as soon as she reassumed her rightful seat, she swathed herself once more in majesty and dignity.
As he watched her, Kaito found himself dumbfounded.
Vyade was a wolfwoman who gave off a strange impression. She seemed like both a teenage girl and a woman over a century old. Humans had difficulty gauging beastfolk’s ages in general, but hers was even more of an enigma.
Then she looked down on them with gravitas befitting the second imperial princess of the Forest King.
“We’ve carefully removed those sheets of metal from within the block of ice and run some tests on them. However, at the moment, our technology is proving insufficient to determine much, other than the fact that their material seems impossible to reproduce. I find it unlikely that we’ll derive much useful information from the remaining specimens going forward, either. And we still have no guarantee that only one of those things exists.”
“Yeah, I thought of that, too. Even if it can change its form, there’s no way it committed all those massacres single-handedly.”
“Consequently, I wish to ask for your continued sojourn and cooperation until we can definitively state that we’ve put a stop to the massacres. We need to determine that thing’s true nature and, if it has one, who its master is.”
Upon hearing what Vyade had to say, Kaito narrowed his eyes.
That was no doubt the reason she’d used such innocent-seeming methods to demonstrate her affection for them. She’d been very intentionally trying to get Kaito and Hina to feel a bond toward the beastfolk.
Depending on what master that thing serves, it might even have intended to start a war between these guys and the humans.
After a few seconds of deliberation, Kaito chose his words carefully.
“You know, I really do think that thing came from a demon.”
The Kaiser had declared it had nothing to do with demons. But Kaito was intentionally keeping that fact to himself.
He’d decided he needed to do whatever he could to prevent a war from breaking out.
Although it seemed she’d guessed at his true intentions, Vyade replied with a calm nod.
“No matter what race they originally hail from, a demon’s contractor is an enemy of all who live in this world. If our foe truly is a new contractor, we’ll need to send notice to the human side as well. Truly, we need to find out what that thing was, and quickly. You yourself may be a contractor as well, but your soul is a proud one. For lending us aid yet harming none, Sir Kaito, you are a great friend to us indeed. We would ask that you continue lending us your strength going forward; what do you say?”
Vyade smiled, as though to encourage a favorable response. While it was unclear if the smile itself was genuine or not, the confidence and trust it contained clearly were. Kaito nodded. Genuine or not, his choice was the same.
It was all too clear what he needed to do.
“I’ll stop the killings and find out who our enemy really is. And until we’re done, I’ll give you all the help you need.”
“You have our gratitude. For now, that will be more than enough. Once we’re finished, depending on how things end, we can negotiate from there. But as for today, I’m sure you’re tired. Fia, would you show them the way?”
A rabbit-headed lady-in-waiting standing nearby nodded. Her ears flopped as she bowed to Kaito and Hina, after which she gestured for them to stand.
The two of them gave Vyade deep bows, then followed after Fia.
The imperial princess’s soft voice called out to them from behind.
“I hope you two will believe in me, Sir Kaito and Madam Hina, when I say I wish for us to be close friends. And we wish to remain good neighbors to the humans as well. That is precisely why we must quell this distressing situation.”
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. We believe you.”
Kaito gave a courteous response. And in truth, he suspected that everything she’d said had been true.
As Fia led them through the building, Kaito thought back to what Lute had told him. Apparently, the second imperial princess was a calm, levelheaded individual. That was in stark contrast to the first imperial princess and third imperial prince, both of whom were allegedly hot-blooded and fixated on expanding the beastfolk territories.
Vyade, the second imperial princess, hadn’t informed the two of the killings. That was precisely the reason why she’d needed to call in Kaito, a third party, to act as her pawn. The fact of the matter was, she had made stopping the massacres her top priority. In other words, her desire to avoid war was genuine.
She had no desire to send the beastfolk to ruin, nor to see the forest desecrated.
And Kaito felt the same way. He didn’t want to see anyone have to get hurt or suffer.
Deus Ex Machina.
In order to achieve that, he needed to find out that thing’s true nature as quickly as possible.
What was the killer secretly hoping to achieve?
Or what were they trying to start?
“Hey, Kaiser… Kaiser, can you hear me?”
After the lady-in-waiting led them to their guest room, Kaito called out to his demon as he sat atop the bed. However, there was no reply. The Kaiser was proud, and fickle to boot. Because Kaito had repeatedly called on him for matters of little importance in recent memory, he seemed to have chosen to completely obscure his form.
Kaito probably wouldn’t be able to ask him about Deus Ex Machina until the following day, at the earliest.
“Seriously, why do you have to be such a pain in the ass?”
Undeterred, Kaito tried to play on the Kaiser’s emotions. Even so, there was no reply. It would appear the Kaiser had completely blocked out his master’s voice. The jewel in Kaito’s pocket containing Vlad’s soul rattled around, as though expressing its amusement. But Kaito had no business with Vlad, so he completely ignored him in turn.
“Dammit, why now?”
Sighing, Kaito adjusted his seat on the bed.
Then the door to the room opened, and Hina stuck her head in.
“How did it go, Master Kaito? Any response?”
�
�Nah, nothing. Doesn’t look like he’s planning on chatting today.”
Then Kaito gasped.
Hina tilted her head as she stood before him. Her damp silver hair rustled.
“Is something the matter?”
Her outfit was a complete one-eighty from her usual maid uniform.
Before settling down in the guest room, Hina had decided to take a bath. She was an automaton, so she didn’t normally need to take baths, but the lady-in-waiting had offered her one anyway, suggesting it might be nice to wipe the dirt from her body and use some of their scented oils.
Kaito had been in favor as well, so she’d been away from the room until her return moments ago.
Currently, her supple white skin was dressed in a thin, floral-patterned negligee. The exotic garment’s soft hem fluttered as Hina did a little twirl.
“Ah, did I catch you by surprise? My maid outfit had gotten a bit dirty, so they were kind enough to let me borrow this. Is it unseemly, do you think?”
“You’re so pretty.”
“Wh—?!”
“Ah, sorry. Err, I mean, I’m not sorry. It just kinda slipped out.”
Kaito pressed down on his quickly reddening face.
Hina blinked rapidly. A moment later, her cheeks went bright red as well. She began bashfully fidgeting as she tripped over her words.
“M-Master Kaito, y-you really mustn’t attack me b-by surprise like that. It’s really quite unfair.”
“I mean, I wasn’t trying to attack you by surprise or anything. One minute I was thinking it, and before I knew it, I was saying it.”
“That’s what’sh sho unfair about it… Now I can’p even talg write… Ohhhhh, how embarrashing.”
Hina crouched and balled herself up like a pill bug. Kaito watched her, finding it adorable.
Eventually, after burying her head all the way down in her arms for some reason, Hina whispered softly.
“……………………………………………………………I’m so happy that I could die.”
“No, wait, don’t do that. I’d really rather you kept on liv…ing…”
It was at that moment that Kaito realized the important dilemma the two of them were now in. He frantically cast his gaze around the room.
Torture Princess: Fremd Torturchen, Vol. 4 Page 8