Labyrinth of the Blue Witch (5 page)

But if Kanon
hadn’t
lost her memory of it, that was a completely different story.

It seemed that Kanon had come to quietly visit Kojou to press him about the events of that day.

However, Kojou was at a loss as to how to logically explain things while being considerate of Kanon’s feelings. Also, telling her the truth naturally meant exposing the fact that he was a vampire. That was another reason Kojou hesitated. If Nagisa’s friend knew the truth about him, that increased the odds Nagisa herself would learn of it.

It was a dark room with no light source on. On top of the narrow bed, Kojou met Kanon’s eyes without any clue how he was going to talk his way out of this one.

It was then that Nagisa suddenly knocked on the door.

“I hear someone talking. Kojou, are you still awake…?”

The door opened suddenly without waiting for Kojou’s reply.

Just before that, Kojou pushed Kanon against the top of the bed, completely hiding her under the quilt as he got under it himself. Kanon was about to raise her voice when Kojou covered her mouth with his palm, telling her with his eyes,
Stay quiet!

Fortunately, Nagisa seemed to buy that Kojou was asleep, not noticing that Kanon was hidden under the quilt.

“…Geez, Kojou. Don’t set the thermostat so low.”

Picking up the remote lying on top of a desk, she turned off the air conditioner before making a sleepy-sounding yawn.

“Mm…bathroom…bathroom…”

With that, Nagisa left the room. Kojou finally relaxed as he felt her presence grow distant. Hidden under the quilt, Kanon also sighed in relief.

Quite possibly Nagisa had grown a bit restless when she realized that Kanon hadn’t been sleeping in her room like she was supposed to. It was beyond all doubt that Nagisa would fly into a rage if she saw him with Kanon at a time like this.

“Looks like we didn’t get busted there,” said Kojou.

Kanon smiled charmingly as only her eyes looked out from under the quilt.

“My heart was really beating.”

Kojou’s own heart was beating just as much. “Sorry for dragging you under the quilt like that.”

“It’s fine. It was actually kind of fun.” Kanon brought her face right up to Kojou’s ear as she spoke. The unexpected closeness made Kojou’s entire body go rigid once more. He understood that it was only so that her voice wouldn’t carry outside the room, but even so, it was an awfully suggestive position on top of a bed.

“K-Kanase…um…”

“I came to thank you. I have learned how you and Yukina saved me.”

“Eh…?”

“I heard all about it from Ms. Natsuki…about my father’s research…and what you really are…”

Kojou drew in his breath in the face of Kanon’s sudden confession. Due to her father’s participation in the Faux-Angel experiment, Natsuki Minamiya was currently acting as Kanon’s guardian.

So Kanon had already heard everything from Natsuki’s lips: the truth about the incident and the truth about Kojou, too?

Kanon continued to speak into the shaken Kojou’s ears. Her words somehow held a tone of admiration. “You’re really a hero, aren’t you?”

“Huh…?!”

Kanon’s
completely
unexpected words stunned Kojou into silence. Kojou had not the slightest clue what she was talking about. But Kanon continued in a very serious tone of voice. “Ms. Natsuki told me all about it. How you were captured by an evil organization and converted into a Mystical Warrior, and how you work for the peace of Itogami Island without anyone knowing…”

Despondent, with no rock to crawl under, Kojou’s voice shook. “Wh…wh-why that…little shrimp…!”

Either because she couldn’t think of a good explanation or because she decided halfway it was too much trouble, Natsuki had apparently gotten Kanon to believe a story worthy of a comic book.

In a way it made sense, and it managed to hide the fact that Kojou was a vampire, but he wondered if she couldn’t have coughed up a slightly more sensible excuse. It was very like Kanon to believe it, though.

“…Um, Kanase. Could you please not tell Nagisa about this?” said Kojou, his voice frail.

He was having an unexpectedly serious inner conflict about which was better: being exposed as a vampire or mistaken for a cyborg.

“I understand. A hero’s identity is secret even from his own family,” said Kanon with a firm nod.

Seeing this, Kojou decided there was no point ruminating about the matter any further and so switched emotional gears. “By the way, Kanase, are you all right? I mean, sleeping over right after getting out of the hospital.”

“Yes. Physically I’m quite all right. Ms. Natsuki gave me permission, too.”

“Ah, okay. Glad to hear it.”

“Yes. Astarte also did a great deal for me.”

Kanon’s reply made Kojou let out a relieved smile. Apparently her new life at Natsuki’s place was going pretty well.

But just as Kojou began to relax, he heard footsteps from the corridor once more. Apparently Nagisa was coming back after having taken care of necessities.

As Kanon became flustered, Kojou pushed her onto the bed once more, pulling the blanket up to his own shoulders. The two were practically hugging each other as they waited for Nagisa to pass by.

But that moment, Kojou was shaken when he noticed an unexpected sensation he was getting from Kanon pressed up against him.

“Kanase. By any chance, um, under your pajamas…?”

“Yes?”

Kanon looked up at Kojou with a mystified look. On reflex, Kojou averted his eyes, unable to look straight at her guileless expression.

Something was pressing against his body; though modestly sized, the pressure was a soft and yielding one. His animal instincts were certain of it: She wasn’t wearing a bra right now. Apparently, Kanon was of the persuasion not to wear one at bedtime.

“Akatsuki?” Kanon asked in apparent concern, noticing Kojou’s small shudder. But right now Kojou did not have the luxury of replying.

It wasn’t that he was ill. Kojou was being assaulted by a simple biological phenomenon. But this was an abominable, pernicious condition exclusive to the vampire body: namely, the urge to drink blood.

Though still subject to numerous misunderstandings in the world at large, the species known as vampires did not drink the blood of others for sustenance. The true trigger for vampiric urges was not hunger, but physical arousal; in other words,
lust
.

“What is it, Akatsuki? Is it that you’re not feeling w…?!”

“I’m all right…so, please don’t press too tight. This is just a little, um…”

Kanon leaned in, peering at Kojou’s face with a look of worry. He was grateful for her concern, but as she leaned, she exposed both her white neck and her breasts, stimulating Kojou even further.

His field of vision became crimson hued with arousal, and his canine teeth lengthened and throbbed.

At this rate, he’d completely lose his senses—or so he thought when, a moment later, the sweet, metallic taste of blood spread throughout his mouth.

Kanon let out a yelp. “Akatsuki, your nose is bleeding?!”

However, Kojou was relieved to feel the trickle of the nosebleed. The taste had temporarily driven his vampiric urges away. He had no trouble with the taste of his own blood. Even if it meant being mistaken for having a nosebleed from the embrace of a middle school student, it meant Kanon wasn’t going to be hurt, and that was good.

What smashed Kojou’s fleeting sense of accomplishment to tiny, unrecognizable bits was the quiet voice he heard from the doorway to his room.

“…What are you doing with Kanase in the middle of the night, senpai?”

“H-Himeragi?!”

Realizing who the speaker was, Kojou’s expression froze solid. At some point Yukina, wearing a monochrome set of pajamas, came to stand inside Kojou’s room, her emotionless expression like ice.

Nagisa was standing next to her in polka-dot pajamas. Her untied hair seemed to stand on end as her shoulders silently quivered. Apparently she was so angry that she couldn’t speak. That was a very bad sign.

Kojou shook his head with a look of desperation.

“Wait, it’s not! It’s not like that. We’re just having a really important conversation…”

But Yukina half-closed her eyes as she sighed icily. “An important conversation in bed?”

“In a situation like this, anything you say only sounds like an excuse…!” Nagisa declared in a low, suppressed voice.

Sweat coursed down Kojou’s back.

“…I suppose so,” said Kanon.

Not noticing the bloodlust their conversation with Kojou held, Kanon looked up at Kojou, the only one concerned about his bleeding.

“The nosebleed isn’t stopping. What will I do…? Ah, that’s right…!”

Suddenly standing up forcefully, Kanon raised her hand high in position for a karate chop. Kojou sensed that she was unintentionally gathering a large amount of ritual energy into her flattened hand.

Though she was wholly unaware of it, Kanon was royalty—a direct descendant of the Aldegian royal family. If measuring only raw potential, she was a spirit medium rivaling Yukina in strength.

“I have heard that this can be healed immediately with a blow to the back of the head!”

Kojou panicked as he realized what Kanon intended. “Wait a sec, you’ve got your first aid wrong! Good girls shouldn’t copy stuff from TV, it’s dangerous—!”

If she gave a Shrine Maiden Chop to the back of his head, he didn’t think even an immortal vampire would escape unscathed. Even without that, it was dangerous to mix up your first aid.

However, Kojou’s plea for mercy was in vain, with Kanon bringing her chop down together with her cute voice. “Yah!”

Kojou’s vision went dark as the lethal blow hit home.

The last things Kojou saw with the final traces of his consciousness were Yukina, covering her eyes as she told him that he was reaping what he’d sown, and his own sister, with a cold, scornful look on her face.

In the ninth lunar month, a couple of days after the first crescent with the moon swollen beyond half its size, the southwestern sky sparkled bright.

The Demon Sanctuary’s night was long. Many demons were fond of the night; also, in cities with a high population of transient demons, businesses offering food and entertainment continued to operate until nearly the crack of dawn.

On the other hand, somewhat removed from the bustle of the city, the island was surrounded by the dark, wide-open nighttime sea, where not even the light of the neon signs reached. The rough waves of the ocean crashed ceaselessly against the cliffs of the artificial island, spreading cold sea spray all about. A twisted, mocking voice echoed across the swaying, velvetlike surface of the sea.

A woman dressed in a red outfit spoke.

“Just as before, a horrid city, my sister.”

Her clothes were very revealing; you’d think she was a dancer from a foreign country. She wore sensational garter stockings along with a sorceress’s robe and a long hood. All were dyed scarlet, like the color of blood.

Judging by appearance, she was about twenty. From her clothes, she might be thought a harlot, or, seen from the back alone, perhaps a priestess. However, the ominous atmosphere wafting all around her brought only one word to mind—
witch
.

The other intoxicating voice replied to the scarlet woman with a laugh. “Yes, very much so.”

This woman was in jet-black. She wore a wide-brimmed, triangular hat over her head, a black mantle over her shoulders, and a black leather bondage rider suit; in one sense, the air about her was more erotic than if she had been completely nude.

Her appearance, too, could only be called that of a witch.

A scarlet witch and a black witch.

Calmly walking over the surface of the very sea, the two set foot upon the artificial land of Itogami Island.

The next moment, a dazzling searchlight rudely shone upon them.

Fortified against the cliffs on the side of the road was a force of well-armed riot police. Their shields had defensive magical runes engraved into them; their firearms were loaded with special anti-demon rounds.

This was the Island Guard’s interdiction unit. In accordance with their mission, they were brimming with combat experience and powerful weaponry.

However, the witches gave the guardsmen a look of scorn, sighing with a lack of enthusiasm.

“They seem unamused, my sister.”

“You’d think they’d give us a warmer welcome, returning after ten years like this.”

As they spoke quite casually, the two continued to walk toward the city. Their behavior was quite arrogant, completely heedless of the gun barrels aimed right at them.

The Island Guard squad leader shouted. His loudspeaker-amplified voice seemed to make the very coastal air shake.

“Attention, intruders: You are violating the jurisdiction of a Demon Sanctuary. In accordance with the Special Security Measures Act, you are under arrest. Immediately lower your spell wards and follow our instructions. You have ten seconds. This is your final warning. If you do not comply, we will detain you by force.”

The guardsmen took the safeties off their weapons.

They were equipped with large-caliber ritual energy rounds and electrum chip rounds capable of neutralizing even beast men. One solid hit and the witch’s physical bodies would be blown to bits.

Regardless, the witches’ cold, mocking smiles did not falter.

“The peasants are in an uproar.”

“Let us indulge in some amusement, shall we?”

The squad leader continued his countdown. The two witches continued walking, even past the allotted ten seconds. After a bitter expression came over the squad leader momentarily, he shouted in an unmoved tone of voice.

“Fire!”

Blue sparks scattered into the darkness. The sound of countless gunshots blended into a single, thunderous sound that shook the earth. However, the hail of bullets they rained down did not touch the witches whatsoever.

A giant tentacle split the sea and leaped forth, serving as their shield, blocking all of the bullets flying at them. The guardsmen were in shock at the bizarre sight.

The tentacle had a diameter of some hundred and fifty centimeters at its thickest point; they couldn’t even get a good look at how long it was. It was a translucent appendage suggestive of a cephalopod; a squid, perhaps. Moving like snakes, more tentacles entered the fray, completely concealing the witches behind them.

“You live in a Demon Sanctuary. Are you really surprised by a familiar of this level?” The scarlet witch made a haughty laugh as if to mock the troops that seemed ready to flee.

The black witch cruelly twisted her lips and shook her head.

“That is an unreasonable request, Octavia. It is a city in which that uncouth little girl dwells, after all.”

“True, my sister.”

The scarlet witch spread out the book she had been carrying under one arm. She pressed her palm onto the book. The symbols drawn upon it glowed, releasing an immense amount of magical energy.

“Then let them at least beautify this filthy city with their own blood.”

The tentacles moved with even greater force.

The guardsmen continued to fire, but naturally, even large-caliber rounds could not penetrate translucent tentacles over a full meter thick. The barrage ended when they ran out of ammunition.

That instant, the tentacles switched to the offensive.

The tentacles, extending like giant leathery whips, mowed the guardsmen down one after another.

Shields were meaningless against such an overwhelming difference in mass. The stout troops were tossed aside like bowling pins; the formation enveloping the witches completely fell apart.

“What the hell are they—?!” the squad leader angrily shouted.

They were Demon Sanctuary guardsmen with heavy combat experience. No familiar controlled by a magic user had ever chewed them up and spat them out like this.

However, these tentacles were on a different level. Such a mighty familiar was well beyond the summoning capacity of an ordinary human being. This was a monster that rivaled even vampiric Beast Vassals. Surely the life force consumption required to summon a monster on this scale would instantly burn out anything
but
an immortal vampire.

In the recent past, there had apparently been experiments to graft a Beast Vassal to a homunculus, but even their bodies, with natural life spans far in excess of a human’s, were exhausted in but a short time.

No—there was one way and only one. A shortcut that one could call an exception.

It was a way for someone to gain enormous demonic power rivaling that of a vampire, even while remaining in human form.

A devil could grant such a person power in exchange for her very soul. In other words, a witch—

An operator from Island Guard HQ sent an emergency message straight to the squad leader’s earphone.

“Spell rune has been cross-referenced using the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s criminal data bank. High probability these are the top-rank criminal sorceresses ‘the Meyer Sisters’ assigned to LCO’s First Branch, ‘Philosophy.’”

The squad leader’s voice shook with despair.

“The Meyer Sisters?! The Ashdown Witches?!”

The Meyer Sisters were international sorcery criminals who had conducted a dangerous magical ritual in the imperial state of Ashdown of the North Sea, and the ensuing disaster had wiped out an entire provincial capital.

These same sisters had appeared at Itogami Island some ten years prior, inflicting severe, unprecedented damage.

If those witch sisters had appeared once more, the weapons of the Interdiction Unit were nowhere near enough to deal with them.

“Quite correct. It seems you do remember us still.”

“Marvelous. Here is your reward.”

Looking over the shocked guardsmen, the black witch raised her own book to the sky. The ground at the troops’ feet split open; a malignant miasma rose through the crack.

Snapping back to his senses, the squad leader tried to order his men to fall back. But it was already too late. A new tentacle emerged from the split in the ground’s surface, ripping apart the artificial island’s steel foundation and dragging the guardsmen toward the bottom of the dark sea.

When the overwhelming onslaught concluded, a strange silence came over the cliff-side road.

All that remained on the surface of the ground were two witches, one scarlet and one black.

The scarlet witch murmured in a bored tone as she put her book back under her cloak. “A pathetic bunch. If they were all we faced, we wouldn’t need help from the Library at all.”

The black witch nodded.

“Quite so, Octavia.”

Lifting the rim of her triangular hat, she glared at the night skyline of Itogami City.

“But do not forget. Natsuki is in this city…that abominable Witch of the Void!”

Leaving a wet
plop
behind, the giant tentacles returned to the sea.

The two witches melted into the darkness once more, leaving nothing behind save the evidence of their senseless destruction.

Midnight had passed. It was a new day.

One more day remained until the wild, blood-drenched banquet was set to begin—