Malice Begins To Move

~Western Kingdom: Hazardo~

This region had developed as an industrial center since seven hundred years ago, and Hazardo City was also famous as a production center for weapons and armor. It was formerly the territory of the 【Five Noble Clans】: the Zweilight family, which was destroyed in the civil war sixteen years ago, and because nearby lords were suspected of possibly rebelling, the area had long remained under kingdom surveillance. The kingdom ordered Hazardo City to pay heavy taxes. The people suffered, ultimately leading to the present rebellion.

It was led by lords who had once served the Zweilight family, but what made the rebellion troublesome was the involvement of the 【Wind-Cutting Maiden】. The Wind-Cutting Maiden was a hero who, five years earlier, had driven back a rebel army that attacked a certain town in the northwestern kingdom and protected the settlement. Her name was Cady. With her beautiful features, blond hair, and voluptuous figure, she was popular among the kingdom’s people and had become famous in the west.

Overflowing with a sense of justice, Cady saw the people suffering under the heavy taxes and appealed to the Lord of Hazardo, but she was ignored, while petitions sent to the Royal Capital were also dismissed. The citizens’ dissatisfaction grew by the day, and unable to stand by any longer, Cady finally decided to rise up. Together with the lords, she seized Hazardo Castle and formally declared their protest against the Royal Capital.

In response, the Royal Capital government declared the entire affair a rebellion and ordered nearby kingdom forces to suppress it. However, Cady’s citizen army overwhelmed the kingdom forces and successfully routed them in the battle on the outskirts of Hazardo.

“Justice is on our side! There is nothing to fear! Fortuna-sama’s blessing is with us!”

Having finally lost patience, the Royal Capital government decided to dispatch two of the Seven Generals, Eden Nosvel and Miranda Cascatis, together with the Inquisitors. One day earlier, an all-out assault on Hazardo City had begun.

“Ahahahaha! Eden-samaaa! Ahahahahahaha!”

Seated in Hazardo Castle’s audience chamber was Eden Nosvel, one of the Seven Generals. At his side stood the Inquisitor, First-Class Priest Norvard Galek. And kneeling before Nosvel while laughing as if her mind had broken was the Wind-Cutting Maiden, Cady.

Her silver armor, once a symbol of nobility, had been destroyed, and with only a scrap of cloth covering her body, a large cross weighed down upon her back.

“How dull. So the Wind-Cutting Maiden amounted to no more than this.”

“Fuhahahaha! Look, you wretched peasants! Your once noble and beautiful hero now looks like a common harlot as she begs for me! Fuhahahahahahahaha!”

Eden Nosvel laughed boisterously. General Eden was notorious for his love of women and was said to possess an enormous number of concubines. Naturally, he also owned female slaves.

“Aaaaaah! Cady-sama! What have they done to you!” “Cady-sama! Please come to your senses!”

“Ahahahahahahaha, ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!”

Cady continued laughing. Deciding the sight had become unbearable, the young Inquisitor Norvard ordered the soldiers to take her away.

“Take her to the execution grounds. Torment her thoroughly, then behead her, kill her, and display her head before the castle. Show them that further resistance is meaningless.”

“Yes, sir!”

The broken maiden was taken away by the soldiers. Her destination was the ominous execution ground. The other captured rebels were also made to witness her fate there, after which the leaders of the rebellion were beheaded. As one of the principal instigators, Cady was likewise decapitated, and her head was raised high upon the castle gate.

“How amusing, fuhahahaha! This is the power of the Royal Capital’s pharmacists. So administering that much really can break a person that thoroughly, fuhahahahahaha!”

“That was rather tasteless, Your Excellency Eden. Please refrain from such undignified behavior.”

Norvard admonished Eden, but Eden paid him no mind and began smoking a cigar.

“It made for an excellent experiment! I think I shall try it on my own slaves next time. This should also serve as a fine warning to fools who defy His Majesty the King, fuhahaha!”

“Sigh. There was hardly any need for me to come personally. I will leave the punitive measures against Hazardo City to the kingdom. Therefore, regarding the donation—”

“I know, I know. I shall donate fifty percent of the taxes squeezed from Hazardo. Now then, suppressing the western rebellion will be complete once the remaining two cities are subdued. Sorry, but I’ll need you to accompany me a little longer, Galek-dono.”

“Carmville City and Rezen City, correct? There should have been a formidable fighter in Carmville City as well.”

“We have already received word that 【General Miranda】 defeated them. We shall continue onward to Rezen City and bring it down.”

“Understood. I shall prepare immediately.”

Norvard Galek descended into the castle town. Angel-like wings grew from his back.

Smoke still rose from the town below, and the stench of death lingered here and there. The current policy was to keep as many citizens alive as possible to serve as future labor. Even so, at this rate, Hazardo’s reconstruction would likely take another ten years.

Cries and screams could be heard from the direction of the execution platform. One of the lords who had masterminded the rebellion was just placing his head beneath the guillotine. The blade dropped and a scream rang out. With nothing else to do and feeling bored, Norvard merely stared blankly at the scene.

“The end of a person’s life is fascinating. At the very end, people reveal their true nature. I wonder what sort of end awaits me.”

Another lord desperately begging for his life lost it moments later. The guillotine would continue drinking blood for some time yet.

Four days later, Generals Eden and Miranda entered the Royal Capital, announcing that the rebellion had been suppressed. The people of the capital rejoiced that traitors who had opposed their patron deity, Fortuna, had been punished, and hurled abuse at the severed heads of their enemies. At the time, the Heroes happened to be absent because they were exploring Mount Godard. No—the kingdom’s upper leadership had deliberately arranged matters so they would not witness the scene.

But Sasano was different. Mogami Sasano secretly slipped out of the royal palace through the escape passage Hiiragi had used and ended up witnessing the scene. She witnessed the kingdom’s darkness.

“What… is this…?”

A roaring crowd, soldiers whipping them into a frenzy, generals playing with severed heads, slaves locked in cages.

“This… this is…”

Sasano suddenly felt nausea rise within her. Perhaps this was considered normal in this era. But to Sasano, the scene was nothing other than grotesquely abnormal.

“I’ve returned. Is Rakka here?”

Norvard addressed an Inquisitor nearby.

“N-No. She hasn’t been seen since this morning.”

At that moment—

“Mornin’, Norvard. Good work this early in the morning~”

A carefree voice rang out. Norvard replied with an exasperated expression.

“Being late is hardly commendable, Rakka. Also, it is already noon.”

“See, I was out ‘hunting heretics’ until really late last night, so I’m sleep deprived. That bastard just wouldn’t die. Seriously, those pieces of shit are such a pain.”

“A young lady should not use language like that. Still, if you had been there, we might have caught up with October Festival.”

The Grand Temple of Maxcatis, headquarters of the Fortuna Sect of the Church of the Full Moon. One section of the temple served as living quarters for the Inquisitors. Of the man and woman speaking, one was the aforementioned Inquisitor, First-Class Priest Norvard Galek. The other was a beautiful demi-human woman with white hair and rabbit ears, First-Class Priest 【Rakka Tillier le Cherine】. She referred to herself with the unusual first-person pronoun “ate,” and despite her twitching rabbit ears, spoke in a lazy, irreverent tone completely at odds with her appearance.

“Anyway, I’m heading out on an expedition starting tomorrow, so if you need something, say it quick.”

“No, I merely came to show my face. An expedition?”

“Yeah, apparently. Some brat from the Fulgaud family was spotted in the Neutral City of Lichten. Seriously, what a pain.”

“Fulgaud, I see. Then the next time you return, you will be carrying her head.”

“Obviously.”

“Still, since it is Lichten, we cannot cause too much disturbance. The Neutral City is neutral, after all. The Royal Capital’s influence does not extend there very far.”

“It’ll be fine. Once I’m on the job, I’ll wipe ’em out before anyone can make a fuss. Chop the head off, pull out, mission complete~”

Rakka skipped lightly toward the temple entrance and opened the doors. Then she looked back toward Norvard and said,

“Alright, off I go, boing♪”