The Executioner and Her Way of Life, Vol. 3: The Cage of Iron Sand

She had never liked her to begin with. Nothing was more important to Momo than Menou, and she prioritized Menou’s safety above all else, even if it meant the death of some stranger or even the destruction of half the world. She did have a conscience and common sense, of course, but those would never be more important than Menou.

Naturally, whether Akari lived or died didn’t count for anything on that scale, either.

“Well, now I’m more certain than ever.” Momo pulled out her coping saw from the frilled hem of her priestess robes and gave it a flick. The wirelike saw snapped sharply in the wind.

“You’re not the sort to break down just because of a little rough handling, are you? I’ll tie you up, drag you to the Sword of Salt, and kill you with it.”

“Why don’t you go ahead and try? If you think you can do it, anyway.”

Guiding Force: Connect—Improper Attachment, Pure Concept [Time]—Invoke [Suspension]

There was no warning—a
Time
conjuring shot out from Akari’s fingertip.

The beam of light contained a miraculous trick that could stop the flow of time on a conceptual level. It would end the fight immediately if it hit, but Momo managed to dodge it by a hair. Akari’s construction was frighteningly fast. It wasn’t skillful so much as purely natural; rather than building it up, it was as if she was releasing a construction that already existed in her soul. Her attacks seemed to skip an invocation step entirely.

Trying to dodge these instant conjurings would only make things more difficult.

So instead, Momo stayed on the offensive, trying to force her opponent into defense mode without giving her a chance to counterattack.

The whiplike saw whistled through the air. Akari wouldn’t be able to step out of its range in time. She pointed her index finger at the coping saw and unleashed another conjuring.

Guiding Force: Connect—Improper Attachment, Pure Concept [Time]—Invoke [Weathering]

With a loud
swoosh
, the saw broke down and fell to pieces.

Her attack was incredibly powerful. Momo promptly let go of the dust that remained of her coping saw and analyzed Akari’s strikes. The girl had no combat strategy and only a tiny bit more experience than a total novice. That wouldn’t be enough to battle the average adventurer, never mind the likes of Menou or Momo.

All she had were her powers.

“…Which are absurdly dangerous,” Momo grumbled.

She didn’t know how many times the Otherworlder had used
Regression
, but given that she was traveling with Menou as her guard, Momo doubted that Akari had many opportunities to fight on her own. Even if she did, Akari could catch her opponents off guard with her abilities and end the battle before it started, so it was safe to assume she hadn’t learned any combat techniques.

Which was why Momo was able to fight her.

If Menou had abilities like Akari’s, then Momo probably wouldn’t be able to hold her own for longer than ten seconds. The main reason Momo was an even match for Akari was the Japanese girl’s lack of combat knowledge.

That, and one other important point: Akari wasn’t really trying to kill Momo.

“I always hated you, Momo.”

“Is that right? I’d be perfectly happy if you died, myself.”

“You don’t know anything about Menou, but you go around acting like you understand her better than anyone. It’s so annoying.”

“Excuse me?” Momo scowled. “And what do
you
know about my darling when you’ve only just met her, hmm?”

“Her future,” Akari replied simply. “Unlike you, I know about her future.”

Guiding Force: Connect—Improper Attachment, Pure Concept [Time]—Invoke [Acceleration]

Akari sped up drastically.

Her movements were completely amateur, but her speed was far from ordinary. There were no martial arts, muscles, or magic involved. Though she wasn’t throwing her body weight around or kicking off the ground to build up momentum, there was insane speed behind her standard steps, making the timing of her strike difficult to calculate.

Most importantly, Momo had to avoid the
Suspension
conjuring at all costs, since it would render her immobile if it hit. At this speed, though, it would be extremely difficult to react in time.

“Tch!” Momo steadied her defensive stance and tried to provoke Akari.

Though the other girl was hostile toward Momo, she didn’t seem to want to kill her. Or perhaps the problem was even more fundamental.

Momo smiled.

She guessed Akari had never killed anyone. The girl didn’t have the guts to do it, either. She might be able to hurt someone, but she certainly couldn’t kill them. That much was obvious from the fact that she kept trying to use
Suspension
on Momo, even though she’d destroyed her weapon with
Weathering
.

Deep down, Akari Tokitou was simply too nice of a person.

“What kind of creep would pretend not to remember anything and cozy up to my darling while secretly plotting stuff? Could you just die before you cause any more trouble for her, please? You have no right to talk about darling’s so-called future if you don’t know about her past, you little know-it-all.”

“…Shut up.” Akari froze abruptly.

Clearly, some part of that had touched a nerve; her shoulders were shaking with rage. There was something very eerie about her in this moment.

“Stupid Momo! You can’t even protect Menou! It makes no difference whether you’re here or not—so I might as well just get rid of you!”

Something inside Akari had snapped.

At first, she thought it was a miracle.

The stone building. The intimidating level of luxury. She stared blankly at the familiar scene for a moment before she realized…it was the summoning room in Grisarika Kingdom.

She’d gone back to the time when she was first summoned.

The moment she first figured it out, Akari really did believe it was a miracle. But she quickly realized why she had gone back with her memories still intact.

Her Pure Concept was giving her a chance to redo everything.

So Akari waited eagerly for the visitor at her window. She watched for the girl in the lightweight maid outfit to appear along with the silvery light of the moon that emerged just after sunset. And Akari welcomed her appearance with open arms.

“Menou!”

When they were reunited, she eagerly called out the girl’s name and greeted her happily.

That was where she went wrong.

“How…do you know my name?”

From that first meeting, Menou was clearly suspicious of her.

Menou didn’t trust Akari. She believed that Akari had come from the future but doubted her motives for making contact with her. Menou brought Akari to Orwell—and she had promptly died there.

Her second shot at life ended after the briefest of periods, when she met a terrible end.

On her third attempt, she tried to run away by herself.

She thought it was their first encounter that was where things went wrong. If meeting Akari was what led to Menou’s demise, then it was better if they never interacted at all.

But about a month after she went on the run…

“Oh, you’re alone.”

Akari ran into the red-haired priestess.

It was the same woman who’d put an end to their journey the first time, in the land of salt. She knew she couldn’t fight her or run away. If this was how it ended, that was fine—as long as Menou was alive. Or so Akari thought.

“That apprentice of mine died, too. Guess it makes sense that you’re by yourself.”

Akari’s eyes widened as she realized who the priestess must mean.
“It can’t be…”

“Hmm? Yep, old lady Orwell killed her. My apprentice was going to get taken in with the holder of the Pure Concept of
Null
and got done in instead. Orwell’s a powerful conjurer, you know. If she sets her sights on you, it’d be tough to get out alive.”

As soon as she heard Menou was dead, Guiding Force was drawn out of her soul and rewound the world. It was at the end of that third time that Akari knew—if they weren’t together, Menou would die.

Ah…I see.

That was when it occurred to her.

When they met, Menou would be less suspicious of her if Akari didn’t know her. If she did, that would put Menou on guard again. In other words, her memories were getting in the way.

Menou had been raised to distrust other people.

If she was suspicious of Akari when they first met, she would ask Orwell for help. After all, she trusted the archbishop more than an Otherworlder, basically a stranger.

And then Menou would die. So why wasn’t Menou suspicious of Akari the first time? How was she able to travel for close to three months, when she would die in less than a week if Akari wasn’t with her?

It was simple. It was because Akari was so oblivious and easily fooled that there was no reason to be wary of her. It was because she was traveling with this oblivious girl that Menou was more conscious of her surroundings than normal.

It was the ignorant Akari who allowed Menou to live. Then all she had to do was travel with Menou without knowing
anything and go to the land of salt, where there was a method that could kill her.

Akari made her hand into the shape of a pistol and held her finger against her temple.

Her memories of their travels together…

If they’re going to hurt Menou, then I don’t need them.

Guiding Force: Connect—Improper Attachment, Pure Concept [Time]—Invoke [Regression: Memories, Soul, Spirit]

Akari erased her own memories.

Thus, the journey was able to continue—but they still weren’t able to escape the clutches of the priestess with dark-red hair.

“Not even once. You’ve never once been able to protect Menou.”

Memories flashed through her mind. The corners of her eyes grew hot at the thought of all those wasted pasts. Akari lashed out in anger at Momo, who was always with Menou, yet was never able to save Menou’s life.

“You can’t do anything, so don’t talk down to me, Momo!”

“If there’s a future where my darling dies because of this mission…” In contrast to Akari’s emotional cry, Momo’s tone was chillingly calm. “…then that would be your fault.”

Akari trembled…because she knew it was true.

The fourth time, the fifth time.

One by one, she learned the factors that caused Menou’s death and avoided them, stretching out the length of their journey each time—but there was one obstacle she still couldn’t overcome.

The longer their journey went on, the more Menou opened
her heart to Akari. Especially that first time. The reason Menou was killed by that red-haired priestess was because she betrayed the Faust and tried to save Akari.

Priestesses-turned-traitors were taboo.

If she didn’t travel with Akari, Menou would die—but the longer she did travel with Akari, the more the likelihood of her betraying the Faust increased.

That was why Akari decided to indirectly let on to Menou that she was in a time loop. If she mixed in just a little bit of the truth about herself, then Menou would never give her heart over to Akari completely. That was what she kept telling herself.

But it was also Akari’s own selfish desire to keep traveling with Menou.

Momo didn’t miss the moment when Akari wavered. She grabbed her by the collar and raised her other hand. Akari squeezed her eyes shut with fear.

Then Momo mercilessly brought down her hand.

A satisfying
smack
rang through the air.

“Um, ow?!”

Momo had slapped Akari’s cheek. If she really wanted to, she could have sent the girl’s head flying right off, but that wouldn’t kill her anyway. Instead, she slapped her other cheek for good measure.

“Yow!! What the heck?!”

“I’m just slapping some sense into you, you big-boobed moron.” With that insulting nickname, Momo let go of Akari’s collar. “You’re not my darling’s enemy. That much is clear to me now.”

Akari stared in confusion, eliciting an irritated huff from Momo.

“I’ll help you out. So tell me everything you know.”

“But why…?”

“Listen—just so we’re perfectly clear here, I cannot stress this enough: I hate you.” She said it with total sincerity, not just to cover her embarrassment. “I don’t like seeing you so close to my darling, and I would like nothing more than for a parasite like you to curl up and die instead of cozying up to her. So I’m just offering to make sure that happens as soon as possible.”

Akari’s eyes kept narrowing as Momo hurled verbal abuse at her.

“…You know, I really do hate you, Momo.”

“And as I was just saying, I hate you as well.”

Reaffirming their mutual dislike of each other, the two girls huffed and looked the other way.

“But if it’s for my darling’s sake, then I’ll help you. This is to save her life, isn’t it? Then tell me everything, down to the last detail. I want to hear all about this future you supposedly know. I want to save my darling, too, obviously. I always have—and I always will.”

“…All right.”

Sometimes, mutual hatred can make it easier to talk about things.

And after making all that clear, Momo added: “You are just…so damned stupid! Die already!”

“Don’t call me stupid or tell me to die! Only Menou’s allowed to do that!”

“Oh, give me a break. You should know how stupid you are!”

Amid the avalanche of insults that followed, Momo made a proposal. It was an option that Menou and Akari would never be able to take alone. Akari hesitated but decided to accept it.

And so the two of them formed an alliance to do what had to be done.

As Menou looked ahead, the sun set completely.

The last streaks of red that burned up from the horizon faded one by one. The sky shifted from blue to indigo and finally to the black of twilight, and night fell at last. The sun, the ruler of the day, was gone, and a starry sky and moon emerged in its place.

Menou, who was on standby at the rear of the base, gauged the time by the position of the stars.

“Any minute now.”

“Mm.”

The two of them watched the Guiding Light visible in the base from afar and waited for the signal to infiltrate it. Ashuna was to attack from the front, while Menou and Sahara would break into the heart of the base in the ensuing confusion.

“What should we do if we don’t get the signal? Just leave?”

“I suppose so, but…I’m sure it will be fine. I can’t even imagine Princess Ashuna failing.”

“Then Momo might be the bigger threat. I’m worried about Akari.”

“I keep telling you, Momo is fine.”

Menou was shushing Sahara when there was a sudden flash.

“Aha,” Menou whispered.

A blazing sword of flames had appeared, cutting through the darkness.

It certainly didn’t look natural, yet it was almost laughably hard to believe that such a phenomenon could be produced by
one person. This was Menou’s second time seeing it. As it was Sahara’s first, her eyes went round.

The Princess Knight Ashuna Grisarika had flashed her sword as the signal to start the battle.

A rumble that threatened to demolish the sand dunes roared through the desert.