I tilted my head upon looking at the curved sword.
ăIs something the matter, Chiyuki-san?ă
ăTake a look, Nao-san. Thereâs something written on the swordâs blade.ă
I showed the curved sword to Nao.
ăAh, youâre right. There really is something written on there.ă
ăMoonlight Goddess⌠do you understand what that means, Decius-dono?ă
These words might be a clue left behind by Sienna for Decius.
The reason she didnât write any kind of clue that could be understood by just anyone might be out of fear that her message would be erased by her opponent.
Though discarding her sword meant reducing her combat capabilities, she mightâve gotten cornered to the point of being forced to do so.
I gave the curved sword to Decius.
Decius might be able to understand Siennaâs message.
Decius then looked at the words written on his sisterâs curved sword.
ăThis is undoubtedly Siennaâs handwriting. Moonlight⌠Goddess, could it be?ă
Decius knitted his eyebrows as he pondered over this matter.
ăDo you know whatâs that message mean?ă
ăWell, itâs something that happened the night before the banquet. Sienna and I met a mysterious woman. Her beauty was simply mesmerizing⌠with the moonlight shining over her, it was as if she was a Moonlight Goddess. That woman is the only one who comes to mind when it come to âMoonlight Goddess.âă
Decius spoke as he looked up to the sky as if he was growing senile.
Nao was whistling upon seeing such an expression on Deciusâ face.
Though he looks like a straight-laced, expressionless man even from our perspective, I never thought that he could make such an expression: an expression of someone in love.
Though it seems like a nice topic to see the other side of this man, I had to mind TPO right now.
ăDid you happen to know that womanâs name, Decius-dono?ă
ăUnfortunately not since she left right away⌠But, I heard that they came to see the Hero of Light-dono.ă
ăTo meet Reiji-kun? Ha~h.ă
I pressed the palm of my hand to my forehead.
Decius looked like someone who experienced a broken heart upon recalling that matter.
ăThen, do you know the whereabouts of that beauty right now?ă
ăYes, based on her appearance, she might be a foreign noble, but if Iâd known that this would happen, I wouldâve asked for her name and address.ă
Decius looked like he was regretting his hesitation that night.
ăIt canât be helped, not even God can predict the future after all. So thereâs no mistake that the Moonlight Goddess is the woman you met before. What shall we do then? Shall we gather new clues by finding that Marchas?ă
I asked them.
ăLetâs go back after searching for a bit more.ă
We nodded upon hearing Deciusâ remark.
Moonlight Goddess.
That woman might be the clue to solving this case.
I committed that name to my heart as we continued with our investigation.
***
âSmall Time Villain, Marchas
The light turned on inside the bar as night fell. But, I couldnât smell the aroma of liquor or fish oil. On the contrary, I was inside a wide room filled to the brim with pink colored smoke.
The smoke smelled really nice and it colored the room pink under the light.
ăAre you sure that you wonât go back, Marchas?ă
My colleague spoke to me while drinking and embracing a woman with his free hand.
Just like me, my colleague was also a member of the heretic cult. He was busying himself with groping the womanâs ch*st beside him.
Though the me from yesterday would be replying with a lecherous smile on my face, the current me wasnât in the mood to do so.
ăGoing back my a*s. Like h*ll Iâm gonna goinâ backâŚă
I muttered so.
ăHehe, I see⌠Well, Iâll be going back first then.ă
My colleague left along with the woman who served him.
And then, I looked at the woman who left along with my colleague.
ăSpiderâŚă
I muttered so.
The woman who accompanied my colleague looked like a spider for a moment.
It wasnât just the woman who just left along with my colleague. Sometimes, I saw that the women working in this store were monsters masquerading as humans.
The women who worked in this store were the employee-slash-harlots. But, they werenât just a normal harlot. They were far more beautiful compared to the harlots in the back streets.
This store was the only store with such a collection of beauties.
This store looks like your usual, normal bar from the outside, but it was in fact an illegal gambling den and bro*thel managed by the underground organization, ăRed Spideră.
This store was perfect for anyone who wanted to forget about unpleasant memories.
The women were beautiful, the liquor and the dishes were delicious. Thatâs why I came to this store.
But, Iâm not in the mood to enjoy that today.
Though I had no idea why things looked a little bit different in my eyes now, I somehow guessed that this might be related to that Dark Knight.
My body trembles non-stop whenever I recall that Dark Knight.
I was even more terrified by the fact that he could literally hide his identity so well and make himself appear like a normal person.
And worse of all, I actually tried to sell that very same person. There was nothing I could do even if that person killed me on the spot.
And yet, far from killing me, he thanked me instead. Thanks to that, I barely managed to come out alive from the seemingly hopeless situation.
And then, I felt some sort of power flowing into me when he placed his hand on my head. After that, the scenery that I saw around me changed a little bit. And thanks to that I couldnât enjoy the liquor in this store.
Rather, could it be that this liquor originally tasted like this?
Before, it was so delicious. And yet, despite drinking the same liquor, today the liquor tastes especially awful.
Which reminds me, someone did say the same before. That fella also said that the taste of the liquor was awful.
Why did I lose that ability around this time of the day?
ăMarchas-san.ă
When I turned to the side toward the one who called me, there was a woman standing there. I remember this woman, she was the woman beside the sect master.
ăHehe, is something the matter?ă
I asked back to her, smiling to hide my inner turmoil.
ăThe new sect master is calling you. Please come with me.ă
ăNew sect master? Okay, please guide me.ă
I was laughing. The new sect master was the female successor of the previous sect master who became the current vice-sect master. Did that person want to know something from a no-name grunt like me?
I stood up from the sofa and followed after the woman.
The new sect master was a reliable person. I might be able to erase this anxiety of mine as long as I met that personage.
The new sect master has always been absent all this time. When did that person return to this country, I wonder?
Soon, we arrived in front of the sect masterâs room.
ăI brought him as per your order, New Sect Master-sama.ă
ăYou may enter.ă
I heard the voice of the new sect master from inside the room.
It was a young manâs voice.
When I was forced to enter the room by the woman, I saw that the room was filled with pink smoke.
A man sat in the middle of this room. He was a blonde haired man with pale white skin as if there was no blood flowing beneath that skin, long slit eyes and bright red lips.
The young man was so beautiful to the point of being easily mistaken as a woman.
ăEh?ă
I unintentionally leaked out a dumbfounded voice upon seeing the new sect masterâs figure. Because he looks completely different from before.
I was really happy when I met him before. It was to the point that Iâm willing to die for this person.
I, who was born in a musicianâs family, got kicked out from the house after ruining myself in gambling.
After that, my life was a wreck. I couldnât become a freedom fighter or a soldier due to my weak body. Thus, I left with no choice but to live by stealing from those weaker than me.
Ainoe-neesan was the one who picked me up when I was at my wits end.
That was how I joined the organization and met the new sect master.
That was the first time I felt that my life until now was solely to meet this person.
But now, I donât feel anything at all. Rather than that, I felt that he was repulsive.
I looked around the room. It was the same room. The room was filled with the collection of freshly severed womenâs heads lined up in the cupboards.
Before this day, I didnât feel that this kind of scenery was strange at all. But now, I knew that this room was clearly abnormal.
ăMarchas-kun, is it? Is something the matter? You seems restless.ă
The new sect master asked with a smile on his face.
ăNah, itâs nothing. Ehehe.ă
I entered the room with a smile on my face, bluffing to prevent him from noticing my flustered state and my back that was already drenched with cold sweats.
ăLet me get to the point. You met him, right? How do you feel right now?ă
I had no idea what he meant.
ăHim? Who is the âhimâ youâre referring to?ă
New sect master was clearly displeased upon hearing me question him back.
ăThe Dark Knight, donât you know about him?ă
My body trembled again upon hearing him saying Dark Knight.
ăThe Dark⌠Knight?ă
ăYes, the Dark Knight. Heâs famous amongst us as someone whose power rivals that of the Hero of Light. Letâs see, maybe the reason he caught my interest is because he foiled my fatherâs plan twice. Thus, I want to know more about him.ă
The new sect master was laughing innocently like a child.
ăIf you ask me about what kind of a person that man is. U~hm⌠He doesnât stand out at glance. But, he can suddenly become extremely terrifying being in the next moment andâŚă
I was at a loss for words, unable to find the exact words to describe the man known as the Dark Knight.
ăSame as Zeal-kunâs testimony huh. Does that mean heâs an expert at hiding his power? That makes him a rather tricky person I guess.ă
The New sect master nodded as he said so.
ăUhm?ă
Suddenly, I caught something in my line of sight.
When I looked at the direction where that feeling came from, my line of sight intersected with the head of the woman in the cupboards.
I unintentionally screamed at the top of my lungs.
ăUhm? Is something the matter, Marchas-kun?ă
The new sect master looked at me upon hearing my scream.
And then, he stood as if noticing something.
The new sect master then walked towards the cupboard and picked up the head whose line of sight met mine.
ăT-That head, could it be?ă
ăFufufu, Do you remember her? Youâre the one who brought her here, you know? And now, sheâs one of my most important spirit.ă
The new sect master said so with a delightful smile on his face, caressing the head very carefully.
Liked it? Take a second to support Novels on Patreon!