Chapter 112

“Taaaaaaaaaaaake that!” “Hurgh!” That marked the third attack Kaito’s chest had suffered that day. It was getting to the point where Elisabeth felt she should start collecting a fee for services rendered. Kaito, on the other hand, seemed displeased with the wake-up calls. How utterly insolent. This time, though, Elisabeth decided to overlook his slight. Instead, she took a moment to seriously examine the broken ball. The damage was fairly severe. It had served its purpose just the way she’d hoped it would, but she had a bone to pick with its shabby construction. “What a flimsy piece of junk that turned out to be. For how dangerous a device it was, I’d have expected it to survive at least a single use.” “I bet it would have if you didn’t use it like a lunatic.” Kaito gave her an exasperated reply. He wasn’t just being insolent; now he was being downright rude. However, Elisabeth chose to overlook his irreverence once more, and the two of them shared a trivial little exchange. All the while, Elisabeth continued running her fingers over the device. The world of pain was broken. The monster was dead. However, it was unclear whether or not the device would ever be fit for use again. Well, I’m sure I’ll fix it somehow or other, Elisabeth ultimately decided. She withdrew her hand and turned to Kaito. “And on another note, I take it your odd drowsiness is gone?” “Huh? Oh, actually, now that you mention it, yeah… I guess today’s just been one weird experience after another.” His answer was far vaguer than Elisabeth would have liked. She frowned. After being freed from the Knight’s beast, the villager’s soul had been left without a proper form. The only reason it had been able to materialize the way it had was because it had found such a choice piece of prey in Kaito. The sensation he felt once it started hunting him hadn’t been drowsiness; it had been the sheer pressure of the monster’s desire to drag him to his death. Elisabeth took another look around Kaito. The dark shadow was gone. It would appear that the monster really was dead. Or to be more precise, it was now properly aware that it was dead. As such, it had vanished off to wherever dead people normally went. If such a place even exists, mind you. The existence of the higher entities God and Diablo had been conclusively determined, but nobody had been able to prove where people’s souls went when they died. That was why Elisabeth hadn’t known if her choice would end up bringing salvation to the monster. The only things she had done were grant a dead man more pain and vanquish him as he screamed. ’Twould be arrogant to describe such an act as “sending it to its rest.” The wicked Torture Princess had ended its existence. That was all. A dead man had vanished. Nothing more, nothing less. Elisabeth didn’t regret her decision, nor was she ashamed of it. She gave a proud, haughty nod. “If so, then I daresay you have me to thank. If you wish to drop to your knees and express your reverent gratitude, I certainly shan’t stop you.” “Why? Just why?” Kaito shot her a resentful look. He truly was foolish, this foolish servant of hers. However, it was precisely that foolishness that made it such a bother to explain things to him when he directed baseless complaints her way. Elisabeth elected just to scoff. Then she suddenly remembered how famished she was. Meals were some of the highlights of her days. In fact, they were the only highlights. She crossed her arms. Then instead of complaining, she went on. “Now then, Kaito, ’tis almost dinnertime. Should my meal be late, I assume you’ve no objections to finding yourself atop the Ducking Stool.” “Actually, I think I have an objection or two.” Even after she threatened him like that, he was still probably going to present her with something utterly inedible. Even though she knew that, Elisabeth looked forward to her dinner nonetheless. Everything past here is nothing more than a digression. You could ignore it all, and not be the slightest bit worse off for it. The story started a good while back. Back when Elisabeth first installed the magic device designed to release people from nightmares. Why would she do such a thing? Every day, she would spend countless hours in idle slumber. She was the type that preferred to sleep au naturel. Never once had she tossed and turned due to nightmares, never once had she gotten insufficient sleep, and never once had her rest interfered with her daytime activities. However, the Torture Princess dreamed. And it was rather unpleasant, having a nightmare and being unable to wake up despite knowing it was a dream. In a world that she was unable to wake from of her own volition, she was bombarded with constant shouts. Loathsome Elisabeth, repulsive Elisabeth, cruel, hideous Elisabeth! A curse upon you, a curse upon you, a curse, a curse, an eternal curse upon you, Elisabeth! Countless voices echoed out with scorn and maledictions. The Torture Princess was being burned in the fires of Hell in front of all the masses. Night in and night out, her torment continued without cease. However, Elisabeth Le Fanu had never once tossed and turned. And she had never once feared going to sleep.