Chapter 94

“Normally, I would tear you limb from limb for this,” she went on, “but you are in luck. I’m very busy today, you see, so I’m willing to let this rudeness go unpunished, so long as you lie there and reflect on what you’ve done.” With that, Leticia gave me one last glance before a magic portal appeared out of nowhere and carried her away. As for me, it felt like my whole body was still shaking, so I did as she asked and lay still. I didn’t feel like moving anyway. The dizzying series of events of the preceding few moments had stripped me of my energy. “Ah-ha-ha-ha… Thank god…” Leticia was alive. She was still okay. I thought I’d lost her, once again, without being there for her. I never wanted to reexperience what I’d felt that day. “…Dear brother?” Suddenly, Mai’s face appeared above mine. She didn’t sound pleased. “Uhh… Mai?” Once again, reality reared its ugly head. This time, it was the crazed grin across my dear little sister’s lips. Then an objective view of what I’d just done played in my head, like a movie. “Oh boy, Kaito,” said Yuuto with a sigh. “Don’t look at me for help.” Traitor! I would show him later what happened to those who double-crossed me. For now, though, I had to think of a way to appease the demonic woman in front of me. “W-wait, Mai, you’ve got it all wrong. I was overcome with emotion! I couldn’t help myself! It was an act of God or something! And besides, I wasn’t acting untoward! It’s like, you know, when there’s a kiss scene in a movie or at the end of a fairy tale! People are just taken by the mood; there’s nothing lewd about it, is there? Is there? Well, I don’t think there is, at least…” “Oh, my poor, delusional brother. Somebody’s going to call the police on you, one of these days…” Oh dear. There was no talking my way out of this one. I crawled backward, only to come up against the trunk of a tree, and Mai grabbed me by the shoulder. “I didn’t realize you lost control of yourself around little girls, even when they’re trying to fight back…” “W-wait, let me explain,” I pleaded, throwing my hands up in surrender. “It might not be possible, but let me try… Gyuh?!” Mai pinched my cheek. “Dear brother, I don’t think you have the right to speak. Do you?” “H-haybe?” “Shut up, you pedophile.” “Hedohile?!” Sure, Leticia was a little developmentally challenged, but she wasn’t a child. And what was wrong with flat chests anyway? “I’m very disappointed in you, dear brother. What were you thinking? Answer me, Kaito. We’re having a conversation here.” “I hon’t know! I hon’t know!” The light in Mai’s eyes didn’t return until I got on my knees and promised never to do it again. “Right, let’s try this again. We’re heading for the nearest town.” “It was you who lost your senses and regressed to a wicked brute,” said Mai, giving me the evil eye. Beside her, Yuuto shrugged and flashed a grin of resignation. “Yeah, I agree, man. I get where you’re coming from, but you brought this on yourself.” “Right! Let’s try this again! We’re heading for the nearest town!!” Our new life had gotten off to a rocky start, but I had to move past it. There were things that needed to be done. Our top priority was getting to a town and finding out just what was going on. Yuuto and Mai would need to be trained in combat as well. Since returning to this world, I’d noticed that I could once again feel a connection with Minnalis and Shuria, though it was faint. Even though I knew they could hold their own, I still wanted to meet back up with them as soon as I could. Plus, there was Metelia to consider. She had sent me back to Earth, leaving Minnalis and Shuria behind. How had they survived their encounter with her? Finally, there was the Offshoot I had just encountered. If Leticia was not yet consumed by the Demonlight Tree, then what exactly had given birth to it? It was weaker than I remembered, too. I wondered what to make of it all. Now, if these were the beast lands, then that meant I could expect to find one person in particular here. A man who could flatten a horde of monsters with a single punch. And also the man responsible for betraying me and setting in motion the events leading to Leticia’s death. And also, if Leticia was here, then that implied the presence of a second entity I needed to kill. Two people who’d led her to death, here in this very country. There was much to do, and precious little time. I needed to think long and hard about how their lives would end. It was time to deliberate. Time to put my mind to work and come up with a way to force them to taste despair. Because I would never forgive what they’d done. Never forget how they’d betrayed us. Whatever lofty ideals they harbored, whatever noble intent. They would taste pain in all its forms. They would be judged, not by notions of good or evil, but by pure emotion. No laws, no punishment. Only a bloody execution. And they would succumb to the most brutal torture my mind could conjure. They’d stolen the life of the woman I loved more than anything else in the world. I would not let them do so again. This time, my vengeance wasn’t just for myself. Just this once, it was for her. Leticia had suffered enough. She’d had to put up with my stupidity. So I needed to put a stop to this before it hurt her any more. So that she could live just a little longer. …Even if that meant I would have to betray her myself. Leon Gailed, the fighter and second crown prince of the beast lands of Grandia. And Lilia Lu Harleston, elder sister of Leticia, the demon lord. “I’ll kill you both, I swear it. I’ll steep you in agony until you can no longer feel pain, then drag you so far beneath the waves that even we won’t be able to imagine your despair.” The two of you are going to keep me company in hell. That was my oath, the one that remained, even after all else was taken from me.