[...He, did he have a sister?]
Not likely.
There are no women in his family. No daughters are born.
Daughters have been rare in their family ever since the disappearance of their only daughter a long time ago, as if a curse had been placed on them.
But what is this woman in front of her?
A schoolgirl dressed as a witch and cooking.
Pale skin, a sharp nose, a veil-like jawline, deep eyes and thick lashes. Add to that a slight frown and you have the ultimate in decadence.
Add to that hair as black as the night sky and red eyes that shine like rubies, and it's like he's come back to life.
... If it hadn't been for the woman, I might have actually believed it.
[Blood? But that doesn't explain it, what the hell happened after that night in the depth....]
The corpse queen muttered softly.
She had apparently cut herself off from everything in the world after 'that one day'.
She didn't know, because in order to plunge into the depths of the Black Magic, she would have to cut all her ties to the world, and weigh herself down.
So she did not know. Any information beyond the 'one day' that involved him.
Moreover.
'No more thinking.'
Or the existence of 'it' that was preventing the Corpse Queen from thinking clearly.
…Jist!
The Corpse Queen was momentarily thrown off balance by the impact of a large, thick awl piercing her skull.
Her brain is immediately restricted from deep thought.
A terrible headache was kicking her half-dead, half-alive brain.
'Stop thinking about your headache, I'll take care of all that for you.'
The demonic whisper in my ear. It tempts you to let go of your complicated thoughts and woes and respond to the simple stimulus in front of you.
Ugh!
The Corpse Queen gritted her teeth.
[...I'm not a corpse, I'm capable of independent thought and judgment, not a puppet that moves only at your will].
The voice in her ear paused at those words. The 'it' closed its mouth.
'....'
The Corpse Queen clenched her teeth and covered her ears.
[I told you, I'm only giving you half the day].
'....'
[And to fulfill the part of the contract, I must go to that bar now. Don't forget why I made the contract with you].
Then 'it' whispered in a sweet voice once again.
'Of course, that's why I found your sister, with my 'powers'.'
The Corpse Queen turned her head at those words and looked to the side.
Geronto. The mage turned lich. The girl who would have been sixteen this year had she lived.
The Corpse Queen opened her mouth.
[I know, your ability, the mystical one that lets you 'meet the person you want to meet,' but... you know there's one other person I've been looking for besides my sister, right?]
'....'
[The main reason I accepted your contract offer was to find his body, but you never did, even after two years of scouring every inch of the Red and Black Mountain].
'....'
[And now, I don't know if it's because of your powers or if this is my destiny, but I've once again gotten a lead on him. Somehow I feel like if I go there, I'll know everything].
'....'
[So don't stop me].
The corpse queen was the first to resist the voice of 'it'.
This was because the corpse queen and 'It' were not in a master-servant or one-sided contractual relationship, but rather a mutually beneficial one, which was quite different from the way most demons would enter into a contract with a dying human to take over their body completely.
But 'it' continued to speak to the corpse queen.
'It's dangerous. I smell danger.'
[...what?]
'I sense something sinister in that bar. It reeks of the disgusting odor of demon hunters.'
Geronto, next to the Corpse Queen, seems to sense it as well.
The Corpse Queen saw Geronto nod in agreement and thought for a moment.
'But why now, Demon Hunter, and what on earth is going on while I sleep half the day?'
'It' was still pestering the Corpse Queen.
While the corpse queen was living half the day, 'It' was also living half the day.
The Corpse Queen gritted her teeth.
[I have come prepared, and the identity of your uneasiness is probably the Night Hound, and I will meet him and unmask him myself. And that woman's identity as well].
Then the thing shut up and was silent for a long time.
The Corpse Queen is about to take a step forward when It gives up.
'We don't have much time left.'
'It' opened its mouth.
'It's midnight, and after midnight, this body is mine....'
[...That's enough].
The corpse queen stopped talking.
It was silent, as if it too had decided that further conversation was pointless.
Caw-.
A crow cawed ominously and flew through the rain of festival cherry blossoms.
[....]
The corpse queen's eyes immediately calm down.
She stopped thinking and let her instincts guide her.
It was time to clear up the confusion.
The Corpse Queen was about to take a step forward.
"Waaaaaaah! You're so pretty!"
"Who the hell is that witch!"
"It's not my sister, it's my brother!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Big sister, please take a look at this!"
"Witch, please cast a spell on me too!"
"I love you, just give me a drink!"
A huge crowd suddenly rushed into the newspaper club bar.
…Click! …Click! …Click! …Click! …Click!
Screenshot flashes of mana exploding everywhere.
The corpse queen was pinned down by a crowd of people.
She was crushed so hard that her cheeks bulged out of her skull mask.
[... these, these].
The Corpse Queen slowly drew up her mana.
She was going to clear her mind of everything that bothered her and move forward.
As she had always done.
But.
…Jaw!
Had she sensed a change of plans? A footstep blocked the corpse queen's path.
"Stop."
Bianca. It was her.
'Stop.'
The corpse queen's eyebrows moved.
'The bitch who couldn't even keep her mouth shut earlier?'
What the hell was she doing standing in her way now?
But Bianca stood firmly in front of the corpse queen, her body trembling slightly.
"I understand your feelings, but that's it."
[?]
Understand your feelings? How dare the bitch say she understands?
The Corpse Queen was just about to open her mouth to say something.
Bianca opened her mouth first.
"So much for fandom, you have to stay in line."
[??]
"No matter how pretty that kid is. You can't do that by raising your mana? Are you doing this because we're not mana users?"
[????]
The Corpse Queen stared blankly behind her mask for a moment.
Then another face popped out from beside Bianca's.
A girl with gray hair and sleepy eyes. It was Sinclair.
"That's right. Only our staff is allowed to see our witch."
The Corpse Queen had no idea what these chicks were talking about.
[... Are these bloodsuckers crazy].
"Mmmmmmmm- blood, you look like you're about our age, but you sound like you've just come out of the grave."
"Sisters, if you'll excuse me, I'd like you to step aside, or take your number and wait."
Bianca and Sinclair worked together to keep the Corpse Queen at a distance.
Eventually, the corpse queen was forced to reveal her power.
Tsutsutsutsutsuts...
Bianca and Sinclair's expressions changed as she drew on her dark mana and emitted a sinister aura.
'Black mage!'
Even the Empire classified them as Class 1 dangerous people.
The black mages under their care are usually identified as those who feed on the rust of the state and move only under its control.
But the skull-masked woman in front of them looks suspicious.
Maybe... maybe all those bones on her face and body aren't just cosplay.
"...!"
"...!"
Bianca and Sinclair's faces go white.
There's no way they, the elite of the Cold and Hot Class, a newcomer who had just finished her first-year midterms, could have withstood the momentum of the Corpse Queen.
And then.
…teog!
Bianca and Sinclair weren't the only ones blocking the Corpse Queen's path.
Black coat, gilded boots, chains and daggers dangling from her body.
And, crucially, a plague doctor's mask covering his face.
"...Who are you and what are you doing on someone else's property?"
It was the Night Hound.