The Roses of Tartarus

by Gakuto Mikumo

  On a tray, she presented ice cream cups. She served vanilla and chocolate to Kojou and Yukina respectively, taking the last one for herself.

  “Eat.”

  “Th-thank you very much.”

  Prompted by the girl with the scarf, Yukina spoke politely by reflex.

  For his part, a conflicted expression came over Kojou as he looked down at the ice cream offered to him. After all, it had a warning written on the lid in black magic marker that read DECEMBER’S!

  “Er, ah, but this is…”

  “It is all right. No one minds.”

  “R-really?”

  Kojou gloomily bounced between two social norms: concern about eating something that belonged to someone else and the rudeness of not eating something offered to him. The development chipped away at his sense of tension.

  “Are you so surprised the operatives of Tartarus Lapse are all children?”

  Senga waited until the scarf girl left the room before posing the question.

  Well sure, said Kojou’s wordless glare at Senga. Setting December, a vampire, aside, Logi and the girl from before were clearly minors. They were both probably younger than Yukina.

  Who would think they had any motive to destroy a Demon Sanctuary? But Senga showed Kojou and Yukina a wry, self-deprecating smile.

  “This might sound like an excuse, but I have not forced them into Tartarus Lapse in any way. Destroying the Demon Sanctuary is their very own desire.”

  “Was it not you who instilled that desire in them…?” Yukina rebuked.

  “Taking children who know nothing, nurturing the abilities that make them valuable as terrorists—”

  “I do not think you, raised to be a tool of the Lion King Agency, are in any position to criticize.”

  “…!!”

  Senga’s dispassionate comment made Yukina’s breath catch. As a Sword Shaman candidate, Yukina had repeatedly undergone combat training from a young age; though their circumstances differed like light and shadow, comparing herself to Logi and the others was like looking in the mirror.

  Yukina just happened to be scooped up by a special government agency—and Logi and the others by Tartarus Lapse. That was the only difference between them.

  They are the same as you are, Sword Shaman. For instance, Logi—he was a military experiment in producing a homunculus pyrokineticist.”

  “An experiment…”

  Yukina’s face went pale as she looked at Logi.

  The Holy Grounds Treaty had granted homunculi the same rights as ordinary demons. Biological alteration for military purposes was beyond doubt a grave breach of the treaty that would be internationally condemned.

  “It goes without saying that it was an illegal experiment. When this was exposed, December saved him before he was disposed of. This was in the city that used to be known as the Iroise Demon Sanctuary. The other children—well, their circumstances are all similar.”

  “Then, that’s why they want to destroy Itogami Island? Because it’s another Demon Sanctuary…”

  “No.” Senga bluntly refuted Kojou’s suspicion.

  “Certainly, to them, Demon Sanctuaries are symbols of oppression, but they are not destroying this place out of revenge. Besides, they do not intend to destroy all Demon Sanctuaries.”

  “Meaning that there’s a special reason why they singled out Itogami Island as their target?”

  “Well, yes, indeed.”

  Senga trained a smiling face toward Kojou. He seemed tired and worn.

  “That is why I thought I would speak with you, Fourth Primogenitor—I hoped that once you learn the reason why we are destroying Itogami Island, the two of you might cooperate with us.”

  “December said the same thing, y’know. Join us.”

  Shaking his head with a sigh, Kojou gazed at Senga with a hostile look.

  “Ask as many times as you want, the answer’s the same. I don’t intend to lend murderers a hand.”

  “Murderers, you say? Well, we certainly are.” Senga laughed out of the blue. “But the same goes for those who constructed Itogami Island. The casualties from the devastation that this island has inflicted shall dwarf the number of humans we have killed to date.”

  “Devastation…inflicted by this island…?”

  “In truth, the artificial isle known as Itogami Island is an altar for the purpose of resurrecting Cain, the Sinful God.” Senga’s voice was quiet and lacked emotion.

  The name of the god spoken so abruptly on Senga’s lips left Kojou at a loss for words. Only a few scant days before, he’d nearly been killed by followers of that same sinful god.

  Seemingly satisfied by Kojou’s reaction, Senga gently cast his eyes downward.

  “The designer of Itogami Island—Senra Itogami—desired the resurrection of Cain. The man himself is dead, but even now, those carrying on his ideals remain the nucleus of Itogami Island.”

  “Then, your assassinations of Gigafloat Management Corporation upper management have been due to—”

  “Yes. They are in league with the designer of Itogami Island.” Senga nodded in response to Yukina’s question. “Their purpose is not the same as the crude terrorists known as the Cleansers. They are seekers of true sorcerous truths that have prepared for the Sinful God’s resurrection over a period of decades.”

  “So you’re telling us to believe that wild story without one shred of proof?”

  Kojou retorted in a brash manner. However, from his expression, Senga actually seemed mystified as he faced Kojou.

  “Surely, you are both aware that the man known as Senra Itogami was willing to employ any means to complete his objectives, no matter how heretical?”

  “You mean the relic of Lotharingia’s Saint, don’t you…?” Kojou’s brows contorted inward.

  When Itogami Island was designed, Senra Itogami chose the forbidden use of a sacrificial material to resolve the need to shore up the cornerstone’s insufficient strength. Thus, the designers had constructed the island with the relic of the Saint usurped from Lotharingia Cathedral as its foundation.

  “Did you really think that man would design an artificial Demon Sanctuary with no objective in mind?”

  “So what? How’s that related to the people living on Itogami Island now…?!” Kojou could barely manage his retort. “If what you say is true, just make it public, dammit! Why do you need to destroy Itogami Island, then?!”

  “I’ll ask you this. How much do the two of you know about the Iroise Demon Sanctuary? Did you know that Tartarus Lapse destroyed that city?”

  For the first time that Kojou was hearing, anger slipped into Senga’s voice. Kojou and Yukina fell into silence, unable to refute him.

  “What you said is just, Fourth Primogenitor. Simply asking people to believe our words is an unreasonable demand. Therefore we, Tartarus Lapse, will prove it by our own hand. Through destroying Demon Sanctuaries, our exploits shall no doubt lend weight to our assertions.”

  “So that’s why you’re on a warpath…”

  Kojou’s eyes fell to the cup of ice cream he gripped in his hand. The letters spelling the name DECEMBER upon it burned distinctly into his eyes.

  “If you knew Tartarus Lapse’s objective, I’m sure you’d understand.” That was what December had told Kojou—and she’d been right.

  At the very least, he was forced to recognize that Tartarus Lapse’s actions had a fairly weighty cause behind them. There was no sign that Senga was lying, either.

  “It was the same when the Iroise Demon Sanctuary sank six years ago. Even before then, December destroyed a number of other Demon Sanctuaries…with the Tartarus Lapse members who preceded us.”

  “Right… December’s a vampire and all…,” Kojou murmured haltingly, as if he’d only just remembered.

  Finally, he could truly appreciate why Senga was not Tartarus Lapse’s leader. December might have looked like she was in her mid-teens, but she must be many years older than Senga.

  “A vampire…?”

&nbs
p; Although, when Senga heard Kojou’s murmur, he knitted his brows.

  “You surprise me. You have not realized it yet, Fourth Primogenitor?”

  “Realized what?”

  “Well, it’s fine. You will know soon enough. More importantly…” He straightened his posture before continuing. “That is all I have to say, but I would still like to hear your reply, Fourth Primogenitor.”

  “Reply?”

  “Do you have a mind to cooperate with us?”

  “Cooperate, huh?”

  Kojou realized that he’d unwittingly broken into a strained smile. It was because Yukina, standing silently at his side, was worriedly watching him.

  “Sheesh. Boiled down, it’s the same damn thing—”

  Kojou exhaled in visible exasperation. “Senpai?” called Yukina, a perplexed murmur trickling out.

  “Exactly what do you mean?” Senga asked as he grimaced.

  A plainly dejected expression came over Kojou’s eyes.

  “Why do you people have to be all Let’s put the whole world on our shoulders…? I’m fed up with it. It’s embarrassing, like I’m having the old me shoved into my face.”

  “I do not know what you are trying to say, Fourth Primogenitor.”

  Senga’s previously unemotional voice began to be tinged with annoyance.

  Kojou curled up the corners of his lips and coolly stared at him. “Do you really think people don’t believe you just because there’s no proof? That’s not it, is it? Isn’t the reason no one trusts you because you don’t trust anyone?”

  “What…?”

  “You said that resurrecting Cain will hurt a bunch of people. If so, wrecking Demon Sanctuaries isn’t what you should be doing. You should be saving the people who’ll become those casualties!”

  Kojou’s low voice echoed. Senga’s cheek twitched as if he’d been slapped across the face.

  “You’re on your own because you don’t even get something like that!” Kojou continued. “You’re going out of your way to make enemies of the people you should be saving!”

  “To be perfectly transparent…we’ve tried that, over and over!”

  For the first time, Senga’s voice was ragged.

  “But look at where we are as a result. The world hasn’t changed! And the plan to resurrect Cain is the only thing proceeding—”

  “Then why didn’t you go lookin’ for help? If you had time to go around smashing Demon Sanctuaries, you should’ve scoured around for people who’d believe you!”

  Kojou had only pity for the man.

  “A hacker I know told me this. Hackers are the sort of people who find stuff that people want to hide and then expose every last bit of their secrets. If you got help from people like that, there would’ve been other ways! Even now, you—”

  “How dare you…!”

  Surprisingly, it was not Senga with anger visible on his face, but Logi. A hot wind was blowing toward Kojou and Yukina, heat simmering all around him.

  “Logi, stop it.”

  Senga held the homunculus boy in check. Perhaps his comrade’s emotional outburst had snapped him back to his own senses. Senga had already discarded his previous irritation.

  Then he quietly shook his head, sending a coldhearted gaze Kojou’s way.

  “If you are speaking of Asagi Aiba, I am afraid you are too late.”

  “Huh…?!”

  Kojou’s eyes widened in astonishment. Kojou had brought up the topic of hackers, but Asagi’s name coming out of Senga’s mouth was completely outside his expectations.

  “Why do you know about Asagi…?!”

  “It couldn’t be…” Yukina trembled. “Calling us here was to keep us from meeting up with Aiba…?!”

  “Senga—!!”

  The fear that struck Kojou seemed to make all the blood in his body freeze over.

  Logi had spoken to them in the public park just before they were about to meet Asagi. It was as if he had appeared before them at exactly the right time to prevent their rendezvous.

  He should have suspected it sooner. Why were Carly the sniper and December absent from the site of such an important conversation? Now he understood; they were after Asagi.

  Keeping Kojou and Yukina tied up until December and Carly could assassinate Asagi—that was Tartarus Lapse’s real objective. That was why Senga had gone so far as to put their safe house at risk to bring the pair to that place.

  “I will not ask you to forgive me, Fourth Primogenitor.”

  “Wait!”

  A ragged torrent of magical energy reminiscent of a typhoon blew toward Kojou and Yukina. They abruptly realized that a complex magical symbol had appeared on the surface of the examination room’s floor.

  “Feng shui—!”

  “Senpai, please get down!”

  It was Yukina who advanced to shield Kojou, who was buffeted by the ritual energy. Drawing her silver spear from the guitar case, she thrust the tip into the floor in the course of a single flash.

  The beam of light surging from the tip of the spear’s blade rent Senga’s magic circle apart.

  Its vast magical energy suddenly vanished; the recoil sent Kojou dropping to his knees. Tranquility returned to the examination room as the typhoon of magical energy up to that moment vanished, almost like it was never there.

  However, there was no sight of Senga. Logi and the girl in the scarf had vanished, too. They’d abandoned the safe house.

  “Asagi…!”

  Powerless, Kojou stared at the gently swaying curtain.

  6

  “I said I’m sorry already, sheesh!”

  Asagi fumed while stuffing her cheeks with a fresh mango in a tiny yard surrounded by a home vegetable garden.

  Sitting in front of Asagi, wearing a seemingly sulky expression, was Yaze.

  The yard in front of his apartment building had a wooden garden table for people to eat outside on days when the weather was nice. Everyone living there was free to make use of the table.

  “I never imagined I’d bump into your upperclassman…Hiina, yeah? I tried to prevent her from getting the wrong idea, you know. Ah, sorry, Mrs. Asako. Thank you very much.”

  Asagi spoke warm words of thanks to the woman in the apron bringing over some tea.

  “It’s fine, Miss Asagi. It’s been a while. Please take your time.”

  The mysterious air around the lady made it hard to determine her age. She had a daughter in elementary school, but she didn’t look any older than a student herself. Apparently, she managed the apartment building part-time and did various other jobs for the tenants, but Asagi didn’t know the details. She might have been the influence on Yaze to like girls older than him, though, thought Asagi.

  It seemed like Yaze purposefully waited until the landlady was out of sight before letting out a large sigh.

  “Just wonderin’, why are you eating the fruit that my upperclassman brought for me?”

  “Well, you weren’t touching it. But isn’t this kinda like waiting to visit a sick person in the hospital? Not that I’d really know.”

  “Is that something you should say while stuffing your face?”

  Yaze glared resentfully at Asagi, languidly keeping his cheek pressed to his palm.

  “Well, you did come ’cause you were worried about me, so I’ll thank you for that at least.”

  “Yes, yes, you should thank me.” Asagi, speaking in a patronizing tone, reached her hand toward the second mango. “So the rescue op for your dad. What’s up with that?”

  “Not one damned word. The rescue probably isn’t totally stalled, but right now the Gigafloat Management Corporation probably has its hands full putting the Great Pile back in order.”

  “Worried, huh…?”

  Even as she sliced the mango with a fruit knife, Asagi appeared conflicted.

  “Not really.” Yaze smiled—a blatant bluff—as he shook his head and said, “Not that I care what happens to that guy, but if he dies, there’ll be a bitter war of succession for sure, y’
see. If I’m worried, it’s more about that than over him. If this goes bad, there could be a bunch more dead people to come.”

  “Wait a… Cut that out. That’s not funny where your family’s concerned, geez.” Asagi’s face grimaced in visible disgust at Yaze’s dark humor. “You’ll be okay, right?”

  “Who gets anything from killing little old me?”

  “Even if you don’t have any value yourself, you’re the legitimate son, so there’ll be plenty of people who think you’re worth using, right?”

  “You sure say the nastiest stuff without batting an eyelash…”

  Yaze sounded hurt. If his father died after monopolizing so much wealth and influence, as his son, he couldn’t stay neutral in a succession dispute. Not allowing him to search for his father, perhaps alive and perhaps dead, probably had something to do with political bargaining related to the issue. It was precisely because Yaze was painfully aware of this that he was sulking at his own apartment.

  “Besides, I just can’t wrap my head around it. I feel like, if a little terror bombing like this was enough to kill him, he should’ve kicked the bucket dozens of times, ages ago.”

  “Wouldn’t know about that, but it’s important not to lose hope, right?” Asagi nodded with a knowing look. After all, Akishige Yaze had yet to be confirmed dead. “And hey. The fact that your upperclassman brought you fruit like this means she still has you in her thoughts.”

  “Wait, wait, why are you always talking like I’ve already been dumped by her…?!” he refuted, going shrill.

  Yaze’s assertion that he was dating his upperclassman in the third year was based on his testimony alone; no witnesses who’d actually seen it could be found. Thanks to that, the theory that Yaze had already been dumped was a prominent one, but the man himself stubbornly denied it.

  “Geez, both you and Kojou have zero respect for me.”

  “Come to think of it, Kojou’s late, isn’t he? I told him to visit. There’ll be no melons left for him.”

  “Do you really have to eat the whole damn basket?!” Yaze wailed, realizing that Asagi had laid her hands on those very melons at some point.

  A moment later, Yaze’s expression abruptly changed. His gaze shifted behind Asagi as if he’d heard some kind of ominous sound, whereupon he stood up, his face twisting in fear.