The Executioner and Her Way of Life

Guiding Force: Connect—Priestess Robes, Crest—Invoke [Barrier]

Just before the blast of light struck, Menou used the crest hidden in her priestess robes to produce a protective barrier. It appeared diagonally and bounced the Guiding Cannon off into the sky.

Menou had luckily avoided fatal injuries, but she’d landed to find all three enemies, including Pandæmonium, out of her range.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Manon Libelle. What a lovely arm you have!”

“I’m Sahara. A former nun. My least favorite things are Menou and Momo. I’m in a great mood right now, since I just got to sock Menou one.”

The two of them were nonchalantly introducing themselves. This was their first meeting, but their similarly laid-back personalities were meshing well. From the look of things, they hadn’t been conspiring in secret prior.

“…Well, you two seem to be hitting it off,” Menou muttered darkly. It was unclear how Sahara had made contact with Pandæmonium in such a short time.

The long sleeves of Manon’s kimono fluttered as she waved a hand.

“What do you think? We could become a nice trio of friends now.”

The idea wasn’t even worth a moment’s thought. Menou ignored Manon’s proposal and addressed Sahara instead.

“Sahara. No good will come of following Manon.”

“You say that like I’d be better off going with you.” Sahara put a mechanical hand on her hip. “Even if I was on my best behavior, the most I could hope for is getting burned. Otherwise, I’d be subjected to experiments. Since I’m already considered a taboo, I might as well join this side, don’t you think?”

Menou couldn’t argue with that. Sahara didn’t stand to gain anything by following Menou. She’d put off dealing with the situation because Sahara had been trapped, and nobody else knew about her—but Pandæmonium must have found out somehow.

Now there were two.

Menou glared at the pair of girls who had escaped death by her hand.

Defeating them was still possible.

She calmly assessed their abilities.

Menou knew Sahara’s strength quite well, and she’d just fought against Manon, too. Even if they teamed up, Menou would have the upper hand. Pandæmonium was the only wild card, but she was still only a tiny portion of her full power—a pinky finger’s worth, to be precise.

The Pure Concept of
Evil
was unique in that it required sacrifices to produce significant results. Manon had stated that she’d destroyed a town when she’d met Master Flare. She’d also mentioned that they came to this town to “rest.”

If they’d used up all their sacrifices in their fight against Flare, perhaps they intended to restore that energy here. If so, then this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture Pandæmonium’s pinky finger.

Menou took a deep breath to heighten her concentration.

She could win this. She cast aside her doubts, gathered her confidence, and took a breath—when something hard suddenly jabbed into her back.

“Now, now, what do you think you’re doing to my daughter?”

A shiver ran down her spine.

There was someone behind her. Even if she’d been focusing on the three in front of her, it was still unusual that she hadn’t noticed this person at all until they were close enough to touch her. That alone was enough to make her shudder.

The object pressing into Menou’s back felt cylindrical. It was most likely a Guiding gun. It would be difficult to escape unscathed if she was shot at point-blank distance like this.

Menou focused all her nerves on her back even as she took on a casual tone and spoke to Manon as calmly as she could.

“Manon… Since when is your father still alive?”

“Oh no. Please don’t listen to a word that freak says.”

Manon usually wore a gentle smile, regardless of the situation, but her expression was serious for once. With a gun to her back, Menou couldn’t afford to ignore the man’s words.

He spoke again.

“You must be Flarette, hmm? It is quite an honor to meet her successor.”

“…And you are?”

“Ha-ha-ha. I’m under no obligation to tell you—”

“He’s the Director.”

Manon’s smile returned as she revealed his identity. The haughty-sounding man fell silent at this betrayal.

“Miss Manon… I must say, er, I do have my own position to consider, you know. I do wish you would allow me to have my moment in the spotlight…”

“I don’t care.” Manon coolly brushed off his plea. “Whatever you think your status is, you’re certainly not my father.”

As this absurd conversation went on, Menou grew resigned to her death. There were three formidable opponents in front of her—and what was most likely a deadly weapon pressed against her back.

While Menou was bracing herself for a fight that would likely lead to defeat, the Director cleared his throat pointedly.

“Now then, Flarette. I have no intention of fighting you, nor do I intend to take your life. Truth be told, I would have much preferred to sit down and have a nice, long chat with Flare’s successor… It’s a shame we had to meet in this manner. I would appreciate it if you would peacefully withdraw.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Ha-ha,” the man said with a chuckle. It was a quiet, coiling laugh, like a snake slithering out of the darkness. “Surely you will not. You know what sort of person I am, don’t you?”

His laughter echoed behind her.

Menou was indeed aware of the Director. This was a life-threatening situation.

The object pressed into her spine was presumably a Guiding gun. The Director’s skillful approach had been undetectable. And most alarming of all was the fact that he’d fought against Menou’s Master for many years.

“Since you are no doubt familiar with my history, I can’t imagine you would ignore my request. You see, sometimes knowledge can feel like shackles. Often, the more enlightened someone is, the less they can move freely. Ignorance is a sin, but sometimes the wise can have more limited options than the foolish. You understand, do you not?”

Perhaps it was merely a threat. Maybe he didn’t have enough time to prepare anything else.

Still, Menou certainly comprehended. She was all too aware of this man’s deeds. She had heard how crafty he was in his ongoing clash with Master Flare. And so, even if she was on her guard, she couldn’t risk ignoring him.

“Now, would you mind letting us go freely?”

Menou held back a snarl and nodded. Dying here would be a waste. Judging by the disappointed look on Sahara’s face, it might have even worked out in her favor that her enemies had chosen to retreat.

“Well, thank you kindly! Ah, and worry not. The object at your back is nothing but an ordinary cane, hmm? I don’t carry anything so dangerous as a Guiding gun.”

This did make Menou snarl, but she wasn’t even sure if she believed the Director’s claim. He was still standing behind her. As Menou stood stock-still, Manon gave her a casual farewell.

“Alas, we’ll have to cut our reunion short for now. I do hope you’ll play with me again sometime, Ms. Menou.”

“Sucks to be you, Menou… Oh, and let me give you a piece of advice.” Her freedom restored, Sahara gleefully mocked Menou as if to make up for all her prior gloom. “I’m willing to bet that not a single thing is going to go the way you want in this town.”

All Menou could do was watch as the trio of dangerous girls each teased her in their own unique manner and walked away.