Holding her breath, the girl moved silently through the darkness.
"——————"
Making her small body even smaller, she took care to avoid even the whisper of fabric brushing against air. She walked with a hand pressed to her mouth because without that physical restraint, her breathing would become audible.
What she truly wanted was for even this deafening drumbeat of her heart to fall silent.
"——————"
Petra — a young girl with reddish-brown hair that swayed with each tentative step — navigated the mansion she was only just beginning to find familiar, moving with the anxious heart of someone who had wandered into an unknown world.
The plush carpet covering the floor was, right now, a blessing from the bottom of her soul. She had always privately thought it made walking difficult, but it was the reason her trembling feet made no sound.
If she ever got the chance to wash it again, she swore she would scrub it with every ounce of gratitude she possessed.
If she hadn't split her attention like that, her feet — barely managing to alternate forward — would have stopped altogether. She was already advancing at a pace no different from a crawling caterpillar; the thought of what would happen if she stopped was too terrifying to entertain.
The impossibly long corridor, with its end nowhere in sight, felt hateful beyond measure.
Petra remembered the elation she had felt when she was told she could work at this grand mansion.
Though it sat right near her village, the mansion had always felt impossibly far away to Petra. Not because of distance — because of status.
The lord and master of the mansion, the Marquis, would visit
Despite being a noble, he never put on airs, and he had the grace to laugh off even a child's impertinence. Not once had Petra heard anyone in the village speak ill of the Marquis — at least not about anything beyond his appearance.
Petra herself had never particularly thought about the Marquis either.
But she had always admired the mansion.
It was a place utterly beyond the reach of someone like Petra — born in a small village, with ordinary parents. Even when she talked about wanting to go to the
And then, by sheer chance, Petra had been given the opportunity to work at that very mansion she admired.
What's more, someone who was quite literally her savior — and to whom she harbored faint, unspoken feelings — happened to be there too. Which of those two joys was stronger, with the latter edging out slightly ahead, was a secret she kept to herself.
In any case, for Petra, working at the mansion had been the beginning of days that felt like a dream.
The breadth of the corridors, the sheer number of rooms, the staggering amount of time required to clean — it was all dizzying. And yet, those whirlwind days brought Petra a genuine joy in living.
That place she had dreamed of and admired now chilled her to the bone with terror.
What had happened, how things had come to this — Petra had no idea.
All she knew was that she had finished her work as usual, then shared dinner for two with her senior maid, Frederica — the woman she called Frederica-neesama — just like any other evening.
Petra had used a step stool to wash dishes at the basin while Frederica went to collect
Petra had never once laid eyes on Beatrice-sama, who supposedly lived in the mansion. She had wondered whether such a person even truly existed, but since Frederica,
The mansion's masters were off on some distant journey.
Aside from Petra and Frederica, only two others remained in the mansion: the unseen Beatrice-sama, and a girl named
Neither of them would eat, which was a source of mild frustration for Petra.
Still, she felt pity for Rem, who remained asleep, and more importantly, she had not forgotten how tenderly Subaru treated her.
The look on Subaru's face as he gazed at Rem's sleeping visage was so achingly raw that Petra could see in it a depth of emotion and anguish so profound it made her hesitate to even feel jealousy.
That was why — — "…I have to save Rem, at least."
She hadn't meant to say it out loud, but that resolve was the only principle driving her actions.
After Frederica returned from clearing away Beatrice's dinner, Petra finished tidying the dishes and received instructions and assignments for the next day.
She wanted to help Frederica, who still had work left, but Petra's still-growing body couldn't endure labor this late into the night. As was always the case, Frederica accepted Petra's enthusiasm, gently sent her to her room, and that was that.
But tonight, something different happened on the way.
The mansion's lights went out — all of them, all at once.
Startled by the sudden darkness, Petra grabbed onto Frederica, who was right beside her. Frederica held her close, murmuring comfort over and over, and then — she went rigid.
That sensation of the air itself tightening — Petra would never forget it.
She had felt this dry, taut air somewhere before. As the fear swelling inside her made her cling tighter, Frederica's hands gently pried her away.
"Petra. Be a good girl and listen carefully. — Use the stairs behind you to get outside. Quietly, without making a sound, and as quickly as you can. Run."
"B-But what about Frederica-neesama…"
"I'll be right behind you. Once you're outside the mansion, run for the village. When we've safely regrouped, we'll sort things out in the morning."
Speaking softly, Frederica turned her gaze forward — and Petra could feel it.
Then, with a gentle push, she was sent backward, and the distance between them opened up. The clouded sky above had hidden the moon, leaving not a single source of light.
Petra could sense Frederica moving ahead with quiet footsteps.
Aware of this, Petra did as she was told — moving through the mansion's corridors in the opposite direction from Frederica. She made it to the stairs and was about to descend when she remembered.
"This… is the same as the forest."
She recalled where she had tasted that dry, taut air before.
It was the air she had felt just two months ago, when she had entered the forest with the other village children.
The air of a forest where the killing intent of a Mabeast howled around her, where her life had been threatened.
"——I have to go."
The instant she realized this, Petra's feet turned not toward the downstairs, but toward the upper floor.
She remembered Frederica's instructions. She knew the guilt of disobeying them.
But she couldn't leave Rem in a mansion that had become as dangerous as that forest.
She had not forgotten the time Subaru had led her out of that terrifying forest.
"——Ah."
Finishing that memory, which nearly brought her to tears, Petra sensed by the feel of her footsteps that her destination was close.
No sound. No detection. By clinging stubbornly to those two rules, she had been reduced to the slowest possible pace — but now that journey was ending.
Even if she reached Rem's room, her small body wouldn't be able to carry the girl to safety.
Her mind was so consumed by urgency that practical concerns like that didn't even register. Reaching Rem's room and confirming her existence — that was all that mattered.
The young girl was being tormented by a sense of duty that far exceeded her years, and by the terror of feeling death closing in.
No one could fault Petra for not noticing what should have been obvious.
A few more steps, a few more meters, past two more doors — "——————"
She was almost at the room she sought.
Her heart was pounding as though it would explode, and the breath she couldn't hold back leaked through the gaps in her fingers.
Just a little more, just a bit, just — "——————"
She had arrived — Petra raised her head.
In that exact moment, the clouds covering the moon outside the corridor window drifted aside in the wind.
Moonlight poured through the window, bringing color to a world that had been nothing but darkness.
And Petra saw her.
"Oh my, what a cute little maid."
Standing right before her, a woman so dark she seemed to merge with the shadows.
Three steps. That was all that separated her from the door to the room she sought.
She was tall, with long hair.
Her body was voluptuous, displayed without a shred of modesty beneath a breathtakingly alluring outfit. She toyed with the tip of her braided hair with one hand as she sauntered closer, exuding an unnatural sensuality.
Only the fact that her other hand held a large knife — gleaming dully — kept Petra from being mesmerized.
"I heard the targets are two, with one addition. That makes you the little maid, doesn't it?"
"…Ah."
"Are you trembling? Don't worry. — I'm sure your intestines are beautiful. Inside the belly of a child with a future, they're always gorgeous."
She couldn't understand what the woman was saying.
But she understood perfectly that the smiling woman's approach was synonymous with the footsteps of death.
She understood, and yet Petra's feet were paralyzed with fear.
The large knife was grotesquely disproportionate to the woman's slender hand.
When it was swung, her life would surely be reaped without a moment's hesitation.
And yet — "What a good girl. …I'll let you meet an angel."
Without mercy, the woman raised her knife toward the trembling girl.
The blade sliced through the air, about to graze Petra's torso — — "Petra——!!"
A large shadow burst in from the far end of the corridor, inserting itself between Petra and the knife. A piercing ring echoed as sparks scattered.
Facing her, shielding Petra with a body framed by long golden hair — that was the reassuring back she had come to know so well.
There was only one person with a back so dependable, so broad it didn't seem like it could belong to a woman.
"Frederica-neesama!"
"What a bad girl you are, Petra. I told you to run away, didn't I? …You're getting a scolding later."
"Y-Yes! I'm sorry!"
With Petra sheltered behind her, Frederica twisted only her head to look back, her voice sharp.
Being called a bad girl made Petra's whole body tremble, and she nodded again and again, tears threatening to spill as she clung to that back.
"You must be the big maid. My, you really are quite large."
With their exchange unfolding directly in front of her, the woman whose strike had been deflected tilted her head from where she had lightly retreated. The long braid swayed with the motion, which — set against the woman's abnormality — struck somewhere as almost comical.
"I'm rather self-conscious about my size. It must be my father's blood, most likely."
"Oh, so your father was big. If you're that large, your intestines must be a sight to behold. I'm looking forward to it."
"That's hardly a compliment."
"Women's intestines are brighter and more colorful than men's. I'll show you the difference once I've seen both."
With the exchange descending into the uttermost reaches of abnormality, Frederica raised both arms in front of her.
Her hands were equipped with gauntlets sporting razor-sharp claws — the weapon that had likely blocked the woman's first strike.
It was a weapon befitting Frederica, one that made full use of her powerful build, but — "I hate to admit it, but you're quite skilled."
"You're not bad yourself, but I doubt you can match me. A little while ago, I had a near-death experience in the Royal Capital, and since then, my skills have improved somehow."
"Is that so. I'd rather hold a grudge against the person who failed to finish you off."
Sizing up the woman's strength before her, a bead of cold sweat formed on Frederica's brow.
The gap in power she could feel just from facing each other was evident from the abnormal murderous aura radiating from the woman. Though she simply stood there without any particular stance, an overwhelmingly dense aura of death emanated from her.
How many lives would one have to reap to be able to wear such a killing intent?
"Petra. This time, get outside the mansion. I'll hold her here."
"B-But, neesama…"
Petra's voice caught as her eyes flicked toward the nearby door.
Just one glance, and Frederica understood why Petra had disobeyed her orders to come here.
So — "I don't know who hired you, but it seems both Petra and I are among the targets."
"Yes, that's right. You, the little maid, and then the Spirit girl. I'm a bit disappointed with the numbers, but I've never opened up a Spirit's belly before, so I'm somewhat looking forward to it. Last time I came one step short and couldn't see for myself."
"You're awfully quick to talk. Doesn't that make you a failure as a professional?"
"It doesn't matter. You'll lose the ability to speak soon enough, and if the client complains, I'll just silence them."
"You're practically falling apart."
It was a conversation that made her head hurt.
Frederica realized there was no further point in exchanging words with this woman. Still, she had gotten what she needed to know.
"Petra. That woman is after me, you, and Beatrice-sama. Do you understand?"
"——! Yes!"
Petra wiped her tears and nodded.
She had grasped Frederica's intentions from the exchange and the confirming question.
What a clever child. What a good pupil. I don't want to let her die.
"Go!"
"Yes!"
Responding to Frederica's command, Petra bolted backward.
Simultaneously, something was thrown from the spinning black figure. Cutting through the air, aimed at Petra's retreating back — four throwing knives. The venomous precision of their targeting — straight for Petra's limbs — was so grotesquely elegant that Frederica raked her right claw across and barely deflected them.
A high-pitched ring sounded, and all four knives were knocked away.
Petra didn't even look back. Complete trust in Frederica. And Frederica had to answer that trust.
"What a good girl."
"Yes, she's my pride and joy!"
Stepping in close, Frederica slammed her left claw forward. The woman tilted her body slightly to avoid it. But with her stance tilted, her torso was exposed — and Frederica's real attack, a front kick, shot forward.
A kick that tore through the air and could shatter stone. Unlike her mother, who had been an ordinary human, Frederica's father had been a half-blood of a martial race through and through. She couldn't fully embrace the blood that ran through her veins, but right now, she was grateful for this power.
The straight kick pierced through the woman's torso, which she had only barely managed to widen her eyes at. The woman reflexively thrust forward her left hand — the one not holding the knife — but the kick's force snapped her slender arm and still carried enough power to crush the vital area — "Wha—!?"
"Surprised?"
Facing Frederica's shock, the inverted woman curled her lips — painted in vermillion — into a smile.
The moment Frederica's kick connected with her left hand, the woman had performed a feat of acrobatics in a situation where the margin for error was impossibly thin. Using the tip of the kick as a fulcrum, she had gone into a one-handed handstand on top of Frederica's foot. Even as she rode atop Frederica's leg, the woman weighed almost nothing — like a feather — and it sent a shudder down Frederica's spine.
"Spider woman——!"
"I was told that just the other day, too."
With an oddly affronted tone, she launched a savage slash through the air.
The silver flash, reflecting the moonlight, shot in a straight line toward Frederica's neck. She managed to block it with the claws she raised in a split second, but even with both arms absorbing the impact, Frederica's arms screamed in protest.
The woman possessed one arm — and one far thinner than Frederica's — yet she wielded strength beyond all reason.
Sparks flew and blades scraped against each other. As she picked up the sound at close range, Frederica withdrew the foot the woman had been riding and whipped a desperate counter-kick toward the inverted woman's face — "That would be a poor choice."
Still interlocked with the claw, the blade served as a pivot — and the woman's body flipped further in midair.
The woman, who should have fallen into the path of Frederica's kick, let it pass leisurely beneath her. Then her other hand reached for her own elongated leg. From beneath her hiked skirt, another sinister blade revealed itself — "Show me what beautiful insides you have."
The woman's crossed blades — still inverted — closed in on Frederica's torso from both sides, poised to bisect her.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ "Hah! Hah! Haah!"
Petra flew down the staircase, pumping her small arms as she ran.
From above came a chain of piercing sounds, and Frederica's faint shouts.
She wasn't so foolish as to be unable to fathom what Frederica was enduring to let her escape.
But even Petra, who understood nothing about fighting, could tell.
That black woman was an absolute monster.
Even with Frederica standing up to her with such a look of terror on her face, the woman's smile hadn't shifted a fraction. It wasn't that she didn't understand the gap in their power — she understood it perfectly.
If this was left as it was, Frederica would be killed.
"Beatrice-sama…!"
The other presence said to be in this mansion.
The black woman apparently didn't know about Rem. Of course, if Rem were found, she'd become a target too — but as long as Petra and Frederica didn't carelessly draw attention to her, the woman would likely remain unaware of Rem's existence.
"This way… no, it's over here!?"
Descending to the lower floor, Petra threw open every nearby door and peered inside.
It was almost unbelievable, but she had heard that Beatrice lived in a room that moved around inside the mansion. Among the countless doors, if you kept opening them, you would eventually reach the room. That was what she had heard — that this person possessed such extraordinary magical power.
That power was exactly what Petra needed right now.
If such a person existed, surely she could help Frederica. She would defeat that black woman and protect this dream mansion of Petra's.
"She's not here… she's not here either… Big Sis…!"
Gasping for breath, Petra was on the verge of collapsing as tears streamed down her face.
Every door in the servants' quarters that was within reach — she had opened them all. Yet Beatrice's room refused to appear before her. How long had the battle between Frederica and the woman been going on?
She had to hurry. She had to hurry!
"Big Sis…"
She needed to start running again, but Petra's legs wouldn't move.
She slapped at her legs with her trembling, half-clenched hands, trying to rally her shrinking courage. But it wasn't enough. She couldn't find the courage. The last embers of hope seemed about to die out.
"——Subaru…"
When weakness had taken over her heart, the name she called out like a drowning person clutching at straw belonged to someone who wasn't here.
It was the name of the bravest person Petra knew in this entire world.
The amazing person who would berate her trembling legs and charge forward even against an opponent he couldn't beat.
When Petra and everyone in the village were truly in danger, on the verge of death — the savior who came to their rescue. She called that name.
Even knowing full well he wasn't here.
"Subaru, Subaru… please help me, Subaru…!"
"Alright, I got it, Petra."
"——Eh?"
Sobbing, her face buried in her hands, Petra involuntarily looked up at the voice.
Through her tears-blurred vision, someone was standing right in front of her.
The person knelt down on the floor to meet Petra's eye level and — "Sorry I'm late. But I came to save you. …I'm glad you're safe, Petra."
With that familiar, unpleasant-looking face, the person offered a troubled smile.
That face — trying so hard to reassure her — wasn't gentle at all, and that was exactly why Petra felt relief from the bottom of her heart.
"Subaru…? You… came…?"
"That's me. I came. Everything's okay now."
At his reassuring nod, Petra reached out.
She patted his cheek, and when she leaned her weight forward, he held her up.
Not an illusion, not a dream — he was truly here. He had come.
She wanted to savor the relief of that. — But there was no time for that now.
"Subaru… Frederica-neesama is fighting a woman upstairs."
"Frederica is?"
"She's black, and she has a really big knife… and she's incredibly, incredibly scary."
"A scary woman in black with a big knife… yeah, I know her."
Subaru grimaced at Petra's words.
Satisfied that they shared an understanding of the threat, Petra tugged at his arm.
"Please! Help Frederica-neesama! Subaru, beat her!"
"Leave it all to me! — I'd love to say that, but the person Frederica can't beat? If I charge in there, I'll be a corpse in an instant!"
"——————"
For a split second, despair spread through Petra's chest.
But Subaru gently placed his large palm atop her head and stroked it.
"That's why I already sent in a super-strong reinforcement in my place."
Subaru looked upward, as if imagining the scene unfolding above. His expression was a strange mix of worry and relief.
"It's supposed to be a reunion scene, but the unwanted guest is being a real party crasher tonight."
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ With her torso about to be cleaved in two, Frederica had all but accepted it as fact.
"Sorry 'bout that, but y'ain't invited, sweetheart."
Amid the screech of steel striking steel, the voice carried a cheerfully foul mood.
It sounded contradictory, but it was the truth.
The owner of the voice was exhilarated in high spirits, while simultaneously expressing displeasure toward the opponent before him.
Which, come to think of it, was perfectly natural.
"You—"
"How long d'you think you can ride up there upside down, huh!? — Get the hell off!"
A rising kick slammed squarely into the woman, both of her blade-bearing arms pinned. Watching her fold in half and go flying, the man lowered his raised foot and brought both arms together.
Mounted on both arms were silvery, gleaming shields.
He wore a pair of one-handed shields, fitted over both arms like oversized gauntlets covering his fists.
"According to the Boss, there's this saying — 'the best defense is a good offense.'"
As he spoke, the man bared his sharp canines and clenched his jaw, producing a grinding sound.
"So how about this — what if I make my defense shields into weapons too… wouldn't having both the strongest offense and the strongest defense together make me the strongest with just the two?"
It was a braindead theory — something a child might come up with.
But this man had put that childlike theory into practice, wielding two shields as his weapons.
Standing in a wide-legged stance, staring down his opponent without a trace of carelessness, the man with short blond hair flicked his gaze back toward Frederica — only his head turning — "Don't you think so, sis — wait, you're huge!?"
In an instant, the aura of a one-eyed warrior shattered completely.
The man — no, the boy — gaped, openly displaying his shock as he looked Frederica up and down.
"H-Hold on, seriously!? You're my sis!? The sis I know was supposed to be smaller and thinner and way more soft-spoken than this!? At this point, instead of calling you sis, I should be calling you bro — ohhh!?!"
"Don't say such rude things!"
As the boy gawked and chattered, Frederica's knee drove into him.
Clutching his side, the boy tumbled to the floor and staggered to his feet. Watching him wobble, Frederica noticed the white scar on his forehead.
"Garf…?"
"And you — it really is Frederica, huh… I can't believe — guh!"
"Don't address your older sister by her first name!"
While he was still in the process of rising, an elbow hammered into his back, and Garfiel crumpled.
Watching him writhe, Frederica was reminded of their childhood. In the "
Frederica used to throw Garfiel, who came charging at her, without any regard for their nine-year age gap. This was no different from back then.
"No. Garf… you've gotten big."
"Coming from you right now, sis, that sounds like an insult! And lemme tell ya, I ain't done growing! Don't think you'll always be looking down at me from the top!"
"Hohoho. Let me revise that. Your body may have gotten bigger, but your heart hasn't."
"What'd you say!?"
Baring his fangs, Garfiel protested his sister's words. After this first direct exchange with his sibling in ten years, Frederica was filled with a happiness so overwhelming it felt unreal.
She never thought there would come a day when she could speak to Garfiel like this, outside the "Sanctuary."
Someone who had gone there must have made it work.
"Oh, and there was also Otto-sama."
"Heh, that guy never catches a break either. When you think about how 'the Miggurd Bridge always collapses' is just business as usual, you kinda figure that's how it is."
She could almost see the dejected face of the gray-haired young man.
Just as the siblings reached that shared conclusion, a voice drifted from the far end of the darkened corridor — "Shall I make my move now?"
"I told you to wait, didn't I? Well, I guess being considerate is one of your few good points. Hey, why don't you just forget about the job and go home? I don't feel like hitting a woman."
"Oh my, how gentlemanly."
Making a shooing gesture, Garfiel tried to wave the woman away. She smiled at him with an enchanting grin.
Frederica struck Garfiel's unguarded back.
"Garf. Don't take that woman at face value, or you'll regret it."
"I know, I know. She ain't normal. Besides, the only woman I treat with kid gloves in this world is Ram, and that's it."
"If you think that's cool, it really, really isn't. Ram will laugh in your face."
"What did you say!?"
At Frederica's deadpan stare, Garfiel whired around in indignation.
——In the next instant, a silver disc was hurled from the woman's hand at terrifying speed.
A disc. No, not a disc — a large knife spinning vertically at high velocity. Its speed exceeded the limits of visual tracking, closing on Garfiel before the sound or the wind could reach him, intending to split his skull and send blood spraying.
"Hey now."
"——————"
The shriek of metal scraping metal, and a burst of sparks painful to look at.
The incoming blade was caught on the surface of the right shield he had raised. With a deft angle change, it was deflected straight upward. The flying knife embedded its tip into the ceiling, and without even watching it land, Garfiel's body shot forward in a straight line, sliding across the floor toward the woman as the left shield came crashing down.
"I told you to scram, didn't I?"
"Yes, and this is my answer."
Just before the shield was swung to its fullest, the woman lightly stepped back and yanked her left arm.
In the next instant, the blade Garfiel had deflected into the ceiling was wrenched free, spinning back with the pull and arcing around to strike at Garfiel from behind.
A cord was tied to the knife's pommel, connecting it to the other knife the woman held.
"Garf!"
Frederica shouted, spotting the threat, but she was too late.
The spinning blade sliced toward the arm Garfiel was about to swing at the woman — his left arm, the one currently exposed. But — "——What a damn pain in the ass!!"
"——!?"
Whether Frederica's voice reached him or not, in that split-second moment, Garfiel screamed.
Immediately after, his left arm — the one swinging through — exploded in size. Wrapped in golden fur and transformed to the thickness of a log, it was no longer a human arm. It was the limb of a beast.
Even the woman couldn't keep the tremor out of her eyes at this.
"RAAAAAH!!"
With a single burst of will, Garfiel's left fist — shield and all — punched clean through the woman's torso.
Naturally, the blade from behind pierced into his left arm, since Garfiel had not devoted even a sliver of attention to dodging it. But it could not cut through an arm that had thickened and sprouted wire-like fur.
"——Ugh!?"
"Fly away, black woman!!"
The pain of flesh being carved was nothing to him — Garfiel's momentum carried through, sending the woman flying. Unable to absorb any of the impact, she was slammed into the ground, bounced, and tumbled away.
Watching the woman roll, Garfiel pulled the knife from his left shoulder. He bit through the cord at the pommel with his teeth and hurled the knife out the nearest window.
"Hah! '
"You're the one who's a dummy!"
"Ow!?"
The victor's celebrations were cut short as his sister's fist cracked against the back of his skull.
Garfiel crumpled, shooting a look of protest at the unexpected punishment — "Going into a fight that damages your body like that… Grandma would cry if she saw."
"Uh, guh… wh-what I do is none of that old hag's concern…"
"What did you just call her!? I don't recall raising you to talk that way!"
"You're the one who — you haven't seen me once since I was four, and now you show up out of the blue and start smacking me around! If anyone's unbelievable here, it's you, sis! …Ugh."
Struck in a sore spot, Garfiel's momentum was flagging. At his reaction, Frederica also turned forward — and there, rising silently, was the black shadow.
The woman quietly lifted herself, spinning the knife still in her hand, licking the blood from the corner of her mouth with a finger. Then she displayed a smile of ecstasy.
"Oh, you're wonderful. You really are. You're such a vibrant one."
"Honestly, even I didn't think I'd be standing right away after that. My bad — I underestimated you a little."
The woman smiled, licking her blood, and Garfiel clasped his hands in a mocking apology.
Their exchange didn't look like two people who had just tried to kill each other, and for a single instant, Frederica forgot the passage of time.
But she quickly shook it off.
"Garf! She's an unknown quantity, no matter how you slice it. Don't let your guard down and don't hold back…"
"I know that. But listen. Sis — do you know a woman named Rem?"
"…? Yes, she's in the mansion. Ram's younger sister, I was told."
On that point, even Frederica had no certainty.
In Frederica's memory, having known Ram since childhood, there was no mention of a sister. However, when Subaru had explained that Rem was Ram's sister, the girl had been an almost uncannily perfect match. The girl still sleeping was said to have been erased from everyone's memories due to the
"She looks like Ram?"
"Like a mirror image. But that doesn't mean you can substitute one for the other."
"I wouldn't do something that messed up. I just wanted to confirm. — Is that right."
While the siblings conversed, the woman was casually flexing her limbs, checking her condition.
Was she giving them time to talk? Hard to say. A strange woman, either way.
In any case — "If she's somewhere on this floor, then when you get an opening, grab her and get her out. I'll probably have my hands full with that one."
"W-What are you saying? I'm going to fight too! If the two of us work together, we'll have a much better—"
"Will you, now?"
Frederica tried to stop Garfiel from going alone, but the woman's voice cut in. When Frederica shot a sharp glare at the woman, she hid her smile behind the tip of her blade.
"Don't look at me with such a scary face. And I don't think what I'm saying is off the mark — your brother there will prove it for me."
"…Garf?"
With a furrowed brow, Frederica looked to her brother.
Garfiel adjusted the angle of both shields and — "Sorry, sis. This ain't the kind of enemy I can handle while looking over my shoulder."
"Wh…at!?"
The blunt assessment that she was a burden left Frederica speechless.
Of course, she acknowledged that her skill fell far short of this woman's. But to be told she couldn't even hold her own — that was a humiliation.
"D-Don't get the wrong idea, sis. I ain't saying you're a burden."
"…Then what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that if me and her go all out, everything around us is gonna get wrecked."
Garfiel pointed at himself, then at the woman. The woman confirmed his words with an amused expression, toying with the end of her long braid and leaning forward.
"That's right. …Which is why you should fall back."
"——————"
The instinct that only true powerhouses could share — the soldier's sense.
Understanding that she was far from that level, Frederica burned with frustration.
After reuniting with her brother after ten years, she couldn't do a single thing to help.
"Don't look so down, sis."
"Garf…"
"Look at my arms. These shields — they're the ones we played with as kids, you and me. My strength now started when I began running alongside you."
At Garfiel's words, Frederica's eyes widened.
In his voice — tinged with concern, with comfort, or perhaps something else entirely — Frederica felt a palpable sense of her brother's growth across all those years apart, and her chest grew warm.
"The Boss took me down with sheer numbers, but in a one-on-one at the limit? That's a whole different story."
Stepping forward, Garfiel clashed his shields together, bared his fangs, and gnashed them.
Then — "Come at me, black woman! This is a celebration of getting out of the 'Sanctuary.' As a warm-up, I'm gonna tear down that first wall and leave nothing behind —!!"