The night sky is colored a deep blue.
The cloudy sky resembles a swarm of sharks rising to the surface from the depths of the ocean.
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!
The sound of urgent footsteps echoed in the quiet of dawn.
Narrow streets between red brick buildings. An alley with stagnant puddles of water.
"...Huff, huff, huff!"
A man wearing armor under a black trench coat was wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.
"I would have been left out at this point."
Clutching the hatchet at his waist, he stuck his head out of the building and looked left and right.
Finding the street empty, he breathed a sigh of relief and muttered.
"Damn it. Miss Uroboros, if it weren't for that bitch, I'd be able to devour the Imperial City...."
The man muttered through clenched teeth.
Then. Something eerie flashed over his head.
"...!?"
The man looked up, startled.
He looked up to see a figure standing between him and the building, both feet outstretched, staring down at him.
A black cloak, a plague doctor's mask. It was the Night Hound.
"What, what is it, you?"
The man looks up, confused.
But the Night Hound didn't answer. He just kept his words short.
"Your name is Edward Bourbon Jr. Is that right?"
The man looked a little flustered at that, then asked.
"Who are you, Ouroboros, did she send you?"
He rolled his eyes for a moment, then exclaimed again.
"Oh, no, that bitch always moves alone, so is this really the Night Hound, the one she says she's chasing...?"
He mumbled something under his breath, but judging by the way he was fixing his hatchet with the hand he had hidden behind his back, he wasn't about to give an easy answer.
But the Night Hound didn't seem to be expecting an answer either.
"Aka 'St. Bourbon'. He's an intermediate Graduator. A high priest of the emerging cult of Ohm, which is making quite a name for itself in the north. 25 years ago, he made his first contract with the devil by killing his cousin after molesting her and offering her as a sacrifice. Since then, he has continued his religious activities, destroying thousands of families through forced offerings. Toward the end of his life, he aligned himself with the Demon Army and confronted the Faithful Quovadis. Infiltrated the Church as a spy, using his knowledge and understanding of the scriptures as a weapon. Later, during the Holy War, he stabbed the Human Alliance in the back, mortally wounding heroes such as Don Quixote La Mancha Tudor and Usher Poe Bianca."
The eerie howl of a night hound from behind a mask.
" ...I asked, is that correct?"
The man bellowed at the question.
"What are you talking about! The story about being a priest and my cousin is true, but I don't have any ill will with Don Quixote or the Usher family...!?"
But he didn't finish his sentence.
The moment he looked up and opened his mouth.
Thud-
A single drop of blood from the tip of the Night Hound's fingertip stretched out in front of him landed in his mouth.
"...uhuk!?"
The man instantly struggled with the bitter taste and sickening sensation on the tip of his tongue.
No matter how much he vomited and strangled with his hands, the pain wouldn't go away.
It was a poison so fierce that it curled around the roots of his tongue and lodged itself deep in his throat.
The man tried to envelope the hatchet he had drawn from his waistband with his aura, but it quickly scattered into thin air.
…Debag!
He fell to the ground, dead within seconds of a drop of blood entering his mouth.
It was a rather futile end for an intermediate Graduator.
"...."
Night Hound. Vikir glanced down at the dead assassination target lying face down in the alley.
He was the last assassination of the day, the 19th.
'...Hey, what was he muttering earlier?'
Vikir recalled the last words the dead man had muttered.
'Damn it. Miss Uroboros, if it weren't for that bitch, I'd be able to devour the Imperial Capital....'
'So is that really the Night Hound, the one she's chasing...?'
The words were open to interpretation.
'Miss Uroboros, was that crazy woman chasing me?'
Apparently, Vikir's prey was also her target.
It seems that Miss Uroboros has her own agenda.
1. confronting mysterious forces and hunting down criminals across the Imperial Capital.
2. seeking to meet the Night Hound.
Vikir recalls a time when he was hunting gnolls to pay for school.
'She attacked me as soon as she saw my face, so I thought she was just a psycho, but she must have a plan of her own.'
Whatever that plan was, there was a lot of overlap with Vikir.
What's more, she seems quite eager to meet him.
"Tsk."
Vikir clicked his tongue and dropped to the floor.
As he searched the body of the priest who had died after drinking Madame's poison, he found a crumpled piece of paper in his pocket.
.
'All sins of this faithful church member are forgiven.'
– This indulgence was issued and endorsed by the Old Testament Church, and counterfeiting it was punishable by death.
㊞
An indulgence sold by the Old Testament church in Quovadis Family.
It was crumpled on all sides, with only the words 'sins forgiven' being clean.
How ironic that this was the last remaining keepsake of a man who had made a pact with the demon and practiced unholy deeds.
Then.
[... rise. rise. rise. rise. rise. rise].
A red-hot, inverted pentagram light emanated from Vikir's chest.
Decarabia opened his single eye and peered into the indulgence.
[Not the smell of a colleague... . It smells of what was once an ally, but is no longer an ally, is no longer an ally, is now a complete stranger, and is now an outright enemy!]
Decarabia looked at Vikir's gaze and changed his words, wondering if he had missed it.
He seemed concerned that Vikir would draw his sword again, saying, "Demons kill," or "I don't believe in demons.
But Vikir was too busy thinking about other things to pay attention to Decarabia.
" ... You mean you smell the demon in the indulgence?"
Even though the demon 'Dantalian the 9th Corpse' of the QuoVadis family was eliminated, the smell of the demon did not disappear.
It even.
[Yes. This smell is definitely the smell of '6th Corpse'. I was always hanging out with my old friend.]
I also got information that the 9th Corpse, who had already hunted in the past, was close friends with the 6th Corpse.
"...Good. I guess we'll have to look through the Quovadis one more time."
Vikir nodded and left.
....
And then.
A few minutes after Vikir left, another shadow lengthened in the alley.
"What?"
A helmet with two large snake scales sticking out like horns.
And shiny black tights and high heels.
'Ms. Uroboros.'
A villain whose true identity has never been discovered despite the fierce pursuit of the Imperial Guard, which is lined up with powerful men.
She stared down at the corpse lying at the end of the alley.
"Hmph... I've been chasing you so long and so hard, have you come and gone already?"
She lifted her head and looked across the alley.
Then her eyes, peeking out from behind her mask, softened.
"My diligent pursuit of the scum has paid off. I should follow him, and with any luck, he'll show me his honored form."
Miss Uroboros launched herself toward the opposite alley.
It was in the direction where the walls of the Colosseo Academy towered in the distance.
* * *
Vikir turned into a dog and was just about to cross the tunnel beneath the wall.
Bark- bark- bark- bark- bark- bark- bark- bark- bark- bark- bark- bark- bark- bark- bark- bark- bark.
The sound of the wake-up call echoed throughout the dormitory.
"...phew."
Vikir dragged his tired body back to his room.
He pushed open his door and sat down on his bed to find Piggy rubbing his eyes.
"Uh-oh, Vikir. You're up early?"
"...."
Vikir sat on his bed for a few seconds before heading out to the gym.
The whole school gathered in the gymnasium every morning to do gymnastics and then go to take a bath or eat.
"At least today is a weekend."
Vikir was relieved that he didn't have a morning lecture.
Weekend. A holiday.
Midterms and University League are over, and there is some time left until the final exams.
During this short break, students would be able to recharge their batteries before facing their final exams and then, finally, the sweet treat of a vacation.
After a quick wash in the bathhouse, Vikir had breakfast in the cafeteria.
Later, when he stopped by the newspaper club room to catch up on last night's news.
"Wait a minute, Professor! That's a notice posted with permission! Please don't take it off!"
"Hohoho-shut up."
Vikir heard an argument that could be heard outside the window.
Wondering what was going on, he opened the door slightly and peeked inside to see familiar faces.
Dolores and the rest of the newspaper department.
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair, all of them looking pretty pissed off.
On the other side of the room stood a rather unexpected figure.
Professor Sady.
She was holding in her hands all of the signs that had been posted on the walls of the hallway and on the doors of the clubhouse.
These were the following
Bulletin Board
The Newspaper Club hereby corrects the part of the newspaper article published on January 0th regarding the criminal activities of the Night Hounds, attributing the crime to Ms. Uroboros.
This error occurred because the authorities were not aware of the existence of "Ms. Uroboros," a copycat of "Night Hound."...
-All members of the newspaper club, Ryukeion.
And now, Professor Sady had torn down all of these wall posters related to 'Night Hound' and 'Miss Uroboros'.
"Hohohoho, kids, I'm in charge of cleaning up the environment this week, so please don't put up any of this nasty crap."
She brushed her bangs and muttered irritably.
"Ugh, why do I have to suffer this annoying punishment in the first place? "I just ran a 'violent crime help and counseling center.'"
"The problem with counseling is that you don't distinguish between victims and perpetrators, right?"
Dolores pointed out, but Professor Sady didn't even pretend to listen.
With that, she stormed out into the hallway.
In the meantime, Vikir remained silent and hiding behind the locker room.
He has a grudge against Professor Sady because of the 'left eyeball incident'.
There is nothing good about meeting Professor Sady.
"...uh? Bro!"
That's when Sinclair stuck her head out the window, spotted Vikir, and called out.
"Did you see that? Prof. Sady just flipped the place upside down. It's a total mess."
"I saw it, too. She's got a mean streak."
"She's always been weird, but she's even worse today. Did she get dumped by her boyfriend last night? Why is she so hysterical? I can't imagine she has a boyfriend who would put up with that kind of behavior."
At Sinclair's whining, Vikir nodded.
With that, Vikir left the club room with the morning paper, which contained the events of the previous night.
Sinclair followed him for a while, asking where he was going, but then he turned sullen and said he had to practice for the mock investment competition in the afternoon.
The place where Vikir headed was the laboratory of the professor in charge, Morg Banshee.
Knock, knock, knock.
After knocking, he opened the door and heard Professor Banshee's cold voice.
"Now you open the door before I answer? How arrogant of you. Deduct one point for attitude."
Professor Banshee realized it was Vikir without even looking in the direction of the door.
"I'm here to ask for travel permit."
Professor Banshee's eyes narrowed at Vikir's words.
"...Out of school? All the conveniences are on campus, what do you want to do?"
"I'm going to the Rune Church. For repentance."
Professor Banshee's eyes widened at that.
"Hmm. Repentance? That's surprising, I didn't think you were religious enough to go to mass on the weekends."
Shaking his head slightly, Professor Banshee signed the excuse slip with a rare expression of satisfaction.
"Very good. That sincere attitude, I haven't seen in a while, Vikir-kun."
But beneath his expressionless face, Vikir was thinking about something else.
'...I didn't say I would do it.'
I don't go out to repent, but to make people repent.