"Murata Ken"s diary without s.h.i.+buya by his side, the fifth hour"

How troublesome.

Although we set up an appointment with the cult that got their devotees to dye their hair black - the "Until That Day Comes" cult, the person-in-charge, s.h.i.+buya, got locked away.

And with the stupid excuse that he was using violence on a child.

What a joke, how could he possibly do something like that! If I were to use an example from my English textbook to describe it, I"d say, "He"s the last person on Earth who would abuse a kid".

Although back then I wanted to rush in and save him, Mr. Chevalier grabbed both my arms from behind to stop me.

At first I wanted to come up with a plan, and carry out my Rescue s.h.i.+buya Yuuri & Lord von Voltaire Plan even if we"re low on combat power. But according to s.h.i.+buya"s own wishes, I have no choice but to delay that plan.The moment s.h.i.+buya was taken away, his request to me was to meet the representative of the "Until That Day Comes" cult in his place.

...Are you serious!?

"If you hadn"t stopped me back there, my friend wouldn"t have been taken away, and we"d still be together now."

Murata"s words made Chevalier lower his head guiltily, until even his originally sparkly golden hair looks really dull.

"I"m truly very sorry... It was all my fault."

"Sheesh, of course I"m kidding. If I had rushed over to stop them, there"s no way I could have gotten s.h.i.+buya back. After all, I"m not good at anything that needs physical stamina, and I don"t have wrist strength or maryoku either."

"Even if you did have maryoku, you wouldn"t be able to use it in this country."

"Mn, is that so? Not at all? But from what I saw, houryoku users seem a bit at a loss here too. Could there be some disrupting factor? Or is it just too far away?"

Chevalier frowns, saying with a perplexed expression,

"I don"t really know either, but maryoku and houryoku don"t seem to obey the particles filling this area very much."

"Then this place is neutral, huh? Shouldn"t we make even more use of it then?"

"Maybe..."

He has no command of the situation now either? Looks like he"s not very good at taking charge of things.

But thinking that "Since I don"t know how to use maryoku either, there"s no need to investigate the reason", Murata immediately gives up asking.

Because the most important thing now is Yuuri and Gwendal.

According to the convicts he"s been all up and around asking, criminals who are apprehended for causing trouble tend to end up in solitary confinement. It"s just that there are a lot of detention areas around the prison, so they can"t tell which area they were sent to.

Murata and Chevalier are extremely worried that Yuuri would face the inhumane kind of treatment that ends up with "no one coming back alive" or "those who return only know how to talk to and play with the walls", but the convict they asked just snorted, "All I know is that those who come back improved their drawing skills."

Why would being locked up in solitary confinement improve their drawing skills? There"s another mystery that doesn"t need to be solved.

Finally they decide that "there"s nothing we can do, let"s give Yuuri some time for his drawing retreat". Now the person they have to worry about is Gwendal.

Although interrupting a prisoners" isn"t much, the thing is he was attacked from behind when he tried to protect Yuuri. According to the witness at the time, Her Royal Highness the Former Queen Lady von Spitzberg Cäcilie (who"s also Gwendal"s mother) - "Whatever, he"s a man, that sort of attack is nothing, he"s fine." Her answer was full of confidence.

Are you sure? But he looks a bit dazed, and there was blood flowing from his temple. Could he have a concussion? Murata can"t help but feel frustrated.

After some more investigations, they found out that casualties are all sent to the infirmary. In that case, Yuuri is in detention, and Gwendal should be kept in the infirmary.

Although he wants to save both of them... Murata pushes the gla.s.ses that don"t fit his prescription up his nose.

"Technically, it seems that both of them should be in relative safety now. If there"s anything we can do with just the two of us, Mr. Chevalier, it would be to follow s.h.i.+buya"s wishes, and meet the representative of that "Until That Day Comes" cult."

"Sigh, I"m sorry I"m so weak."

"Since you have the courage to openly admit your weakness, why don"t you express your love in front of the beautiful Lady Cherie—"

"Whoaph!"

Chevalier makes a strange sound, his ears turning red to the roots. What"s the matter here? He can praise the person he loves to high heavens when she"s not around, until everyone else around him is sick of listening to him. But as soon as the person herself is standing in front of him, he becomes a servant of few words.

I can"t help but understand why he ended up becoming a stalker.

Now, they"re headed towards the underground room where the cult holds its activities, walking down the stairs that had gotten familiar over the past few days.

Mr. Appleface, the messenger, said that "only the two black-haired ones can come", but since Yuuri is locked up now, they have no choice but to ask the devotees to let the blonde one join too, as a subst.i.tute.

It"ll be evening soon. In the building, the convicts in charge of the food are scurrying around busily with dinner preparations. It"s just that most of the convicts are still either playing games or chatting, spending their empty time without a care in the world.

But they"re here.

After walking down the stairs, Murata stands in the dim underground hall, feeling a bit chilly.

In front of him, there are countless people with their hair dyed black crouching on the ground.

They"re not talking, singing or dancing. Just crouching there.

What are they praying for? Under whose order are they continuously sitting there? Or have they really given up on everything, and are holding their breath, waiting for Darco to sink? No matter what the answer is, they just sit there quietly.

We can"t see it because of everyone"s backs, but there should be a waterway cutting through the center of the hall, and we walk towards it.

"Mr. Appleface."

Maybe he heard his name being called or just sensed us, but someone stands up from the crowd. He then walks up to the front and gets us to follow him, it seems like he"s the one in charge of leading s.h.i.+buya and co. He looks like a newbie, because his cheeks are rosy, and his stomach sticks out a bit. If he was an experienced devotee from three years ago, his body and face should be very thin.

"Oh, yeah, Mr. Appleface, actually, something happened so Robinson can"t make it, but even if it"s just me, I still hope I can meet with the higher-ups in your group."

Mr. Appleface says nervously,

"You guys can meet them. That person knows everything, like how you"re missing one "Black-haired", and that the tall guy was hurt, that person knows all of it."

"That person sure is omniscient."

"They know everything. Come, this way."

Hey hey hey, is it really okay to let a newbie like this simply approach the representative or something of the cult leader? But Murata puts that question aside for now, and follows Mr. Appleface into the deepening cave.

But as soon as they get past the cave and enter a small room with a low ceiling, I realise that the moist air that existed in my nose has changed somewhat.

"It"s the smell of water..."

It could be because the change is too minute, but Chevalier doesn"t purposely breathe in the air here deeply.

"Yes, because it"s a city on the sea. The entire Darco city area is full of the smell of seawater."

"That"s not what I meant. This isn"t seawater, it"s freshwater, it"s the smell of freshwater without any salt in it. Looks like the water flowing through the central ca.n.a.l isn"t from the ocean."

"Could it be a river that leads to the sea?"

"Maybe—"

Just then, the guide stands in front of something that looks like a curtain in the small room, and turns back to look at us.

He doesn"t say anything, which makes it feel all the more suspicious. I lose my patience, asking,

"I know this church only wors.h.i.+ps black-haired people, but my friend couldn"t make it at the last moment. That"s why I"m sorry, but I hope you will allow my blonde companion here to come along."

"Is he a mazoku?"

A woman"s voice comes from behind the curtain. No, rather than calling it a woman"s voice, it"s more like a voice that has been strangely altered using some tool or another. It sounds like a wicked old crone, or a toad that can speak.

This is our first conversation with the representative of the "Until That Day Comes" cult.

"Is that person a mazoku as well?"

"Me? Yes, that"s right, I"m a mazoku."

Looks like the cult leader is rather concerned about whether Chevalier is a mazoku or not.

"In that case, come along. Walk this way, come to my side."

When the guide pulls the curtain up, the person we"re looking for is standing right there. The guide stands in front of us menacingly, as though trying to intimidate Chevalier and me.

So what if he"s mazoku? Do we add or deduct marks?

Murata observes the long-awaited cult leader as he thinks.

Geographically, this is a country extremely far away from s.h.i.+n Makoku, mazokus should be rare here. Other than in places they have strong ties with, it"s hard to identify mazoku from appearance alone.

I remember I announced my race when I entered the prison, but it wouldn"t be unusual for Chevalier to have kept his origins a secret.

As compared to our origins, what about hers?

Since the other person pulled her hat down low, even ignoring how dim the lighting in the room is, it"s nearly impossible to see her face. The most they could see is her mouth. And she"s wearing a long robe, so it"s hard to tell her figure too.

But it should be a woman.

Although her voice was altered with some device, judging from her height and posture, it could be deduced that she"s a woman.

In order to confirm it, Murata peeks at Chevalier"s face. As though sensing Murata"s gaze, he smiles as well. It"s a smile that completely has no use here.

"I heard you wanted to see me. Is it..."

She quickly moves to the side.

"Because of the Box?"

Hearing that unexpected question, I make a strange moaning noise from my throat.

In front of Murata"s and Chevalier"s gaze, behind the female cult leader, there"s a familiar, big wooden box.

I say it"s familiar, but in the sixteen years since I was born, it wasn"t common for me to see the exact same thing. Although I have come into contact with extremely similar boxes in my lifetime, it was never the exact same thing.

In my past lives, however, I have gotten involved with this unlucky Box more than once. Sometimes looking for it, sometimes avoiding it, sometimes operating together with it. To be precise, those weren"t Murata Ken"s own actions. But the shape of the Box, its weight, even the places it was damaged, all those details are buried deep in his memories, in the folds of his soul.

"Why is that thing here..."

My voice turns unexpectedly hoa.r.s.e.

It"s the Box that sealed the soushu of water and its threats—"Mirror of the Deep Waters".