The Executioner and Her Way of Life

She thought there might be a sliver of hope, but as soon as she met Menou’s eyes, she knew it was impossible.

“…Okay.”

Akari nodded meekly and touched a hand to her headband.

Menou was looking right at her—and her alone.

There was no refusing when Menou had that glint in her eyes. Akari had to concede that there was no winning against the other girl.

“I’ll be waiting for you, Menou.”

The pair exchanged a promise that would lead them into the future while alone on the train.

There was just one thing Menou didn’t tell Akari.

The reason she betrayed the Faust in previous time lines and shook off any guilt about it. Perhaps her inability to accept another’s aid for a villain like her was part of it, but it wasn’t the only reason.

It was because she knew the punishment for that crime perfectly well.

“What, you’re alone?” Master Flare remarked when Menou disembarked from the car.

“Yes, of course. I didn’t bring Momo with me.”

The Master smirked without a word. Obviously, that wasn’t what she meant.

It didn’t look like Master Flare was going to kill Menou now. After all, she wasn’t a traitor yet. Flare wouldn’t execute anyone without concrete proof that they had committed a taboo worthy of execution. And Menou genuinely wasn’t planning on stealing Akari back here. She wasn’t foolhardy enough to try to do something like that right under her Master’s nose without any preparation.

Flare was an Executioner to her core.

And to Menou, that was a relief.

If Menou turned traitor, or made a mistake, or stooped to the taboo… The moment she stepped off her path as an Executioner, she knew there was someone who would bring her the proper punishment.

No matter how much she prepared, how hard she resisted, she could never win. No matter how far she fled, she could never escape. An unbelievable, unshakable force in the shape of a person would always find her.

Menou could genuinely believe that a power akin to divine punishment would penalize her accordingly if she did something wrong.

It was a great comfort to know her crimes would be punished appropriately.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me.”

As Menou tried to play dumb to the very end, Master Flare stopped her with a relaxed smile.

“Really, you should’ve just taken her and run away now. You’re far too cautious. I suppose you see me as a monster like Pandæmonium or something.”

“No, of course not.”

Her denial wasn’t a lie. She didn’t think Master Flare was on par with Pandæmonium.

In Menou’s mind, the name Flare ranked far higher.

Whatever meaning the Master took from Menou’s response, she opened her mouth wide and laughed.

“You know, Menou. I’m not immortal, nor am I invincible. There are only two conjuring crests in this dagger. All I have besides that is a scripture. The only special skill I have to speak of is Guiding Camouflage, but it seems you’ve been catching up to me in that department, too.”

Menou was very familiar with the conjurings Master had on hand.

Everything she was had been drilled into Menou’s mind. In terms of battle strategies, there was almost nothing that her pupil Menou didn’t already know about.

“As for Guiding Force, I have less than even Momo, never mind an Otherworlder. In that respect, I’m not much different from you. It’s been a while since I retired, so my body’s gone softer, too. My stamina can’t compare with a youngster like you. Getting old is the worst, you know.”

In a sense, this was probably true. There really was very little difference between their levels of capability.

“I’m not strong in the least.”

Why was it, then, that the more she spoke frankly about her own weakness, the mightier she seemed?

“And you, on the other hand? From the sound of things, you’ve taken on some pretty big fish in the past few months. Orwell, who was one of the best conjurers of the Faust and earned the seat of archbishop. The pinky finger of Pandæmonium, one of the Four Major Human Errors. The Primary Color conjured soldier that the Mechanical Society created. That’s a damned impressive lineup. Even in my heyday, I hardly ever fought such strong enemies head-on. No doubt I’m far weaker than any of them.”

She was listing Menou’s accomplishments since she met Akari. They had certainly all been dramatic upsets. Few people could have faced such adversaries alone and lived to tell the tale.

“Now that you’ve grown so much, I’m sure I couldn’t beat you in a fight.”

Her teacher was speaking the truth.

She was weaker than the taboos Menou had fought thus far. In terms of pure power, she might’ve been the lowest ranked opponent Menou had faced recently. There was a decent chance of beating her.

At the same time, that didn’t mean much in Menou’s opinion. The unpleasant feeling in her chest showed on her face in the form of a grim smile.

“However…,” Menou began. “I’m sure you could have killed them all, Master.”

Menou had failed to slay them. Pandæmonium was still alive. Menou had thought Manon and Sahara dead, too, yet they both escaped death after committing taboos. What’s more, Menou hadn’t defeated Archbishop Orwell on her own, either.

Master Flare said nothing. Her disinterested-looking eyes, if nothing else, were the same as they had always been.

As far as Menou was concerned, Master Flare was the most formidable opponent in the world.

“Master.”

“What?”

“Right now, I think I’m trying to take the wrong path in life.”

“I see.”

“I said that I wanted to be like you, and now I’m attempting to do so.”

The hometown where Menou began and the journey she’d traveled alongside the priestess with the dark-red hair had somehow become distant memories. At first, she’d constantly been comparing her present to the past, but now she hardly thought back on it.

Menou’s time with her Master was her core.

However, what surfaced most vividly in her heart now was her haphazard adventure with Akari, retracing the steps of that first journey.

“I know I can still make the right choice, for now. But even so…” Menou knew she had a choice, and so she stared intently at her red-haired teacher. “I’m going to become that pure, noble, strong, and villainous priestess.”

At that, Master Flare threw back her head and laughed.

“You really are a fool.”

“Well…yes.” Menou’s grin turned wry. “I’m perfectly aware of that myself.”

There was no refuting that.

Master Flare turned her back on Menou and entered the car. Before long, the train began to move. The Guiding engine started up, producing sparkling Guiding Light. As Menou followed the Guiding Light trailing behind the last train with her eyes as it receded into the distance, she found herself gazing up at the sky.

It was bisected into two colors: crimson and indigo. These opposite hues clashed intensely overhead. Slowly, the red gave way to the dark blue, and finally, the stars began to shine, breathtakingly beautiful.

Akari and Master Flare’s train was long out of sight.

While Menou gazed at the tracks leading forward and the dazzling sky above, Menou thought about the endless road ahead and whispered, “I really…don’t want to die.”

She squinted as she peered into the distance, searching for her way of life.