Lumia sat down on an extravagant sofa. It was no overstatement to say that the owner of the room had spared no expense when it came to luxuries. She was surrounded by items and trinkets that were obviously of the highest quality, and the room was a lot more spacious than she'd imagined. She was impressed once again at how the Felmafia had been able to create such a vast hideout underneath the city.
"It looks like business is going well," she said.
"Yes, Mistress Jeanne. Thanks to you, our profits have been through the roof," Pietro replied as he sat down across from her.
He was in his late thirties with black hair. Nothing about him particularly stuck out. If one were to pass him on the street, they would never be able to imagine that he was a high-ranking criminal. He was of average height and build, and while not ugly, he wasn't handsome either. It was hard to judge his combat experience; he looked like he could put up quite the fight, but also looked like a pushover.
In between Lumia and Pietro, there was a table with intricate wood detailing. A member of the Felmafia set teacups upon it. Including Lumia and the two guards outside, there were a total of nine people in the room. Seven of them were members of the Felmafia. Aside from the two guards, everyone was likely from the upper brass.
The final person in the room was a good one. She'd been stripped of all her clothing and tossed to the floor. It was clear just from looking at her and her messy blue hair that she'd been through a terrible ordeal. She remained motionless, and it was hard to tell whether she was alive or not.
"Who is that?" Lumia asked, gesturing to the woman.
"That is the commandant of the military police," Pietro replied.
"Why is she here?"
"Ever since she took charge, the military police have been more aggressive in their attempts to root us out," Pietro replied with a plastic smile affixed to his face. "We warned them several times to back off. But instead of listening to us, they actually went and raided our casino."
"Raided?"
"Ah, my apologies. In truth, they destroyed it. It was a total massacre, but it didn't look like something the military police would do. Well, we did see a bunch of military police officials at the scene. Like I said though, it was a massacre. The military police don't do that now, do they? Even so, we had to hit them back. So we kidnapped her and asked if she knew anything about the actual culprits behind the hit. And you know what she said? She said that they hired mercenaries! Quite the hoot, isn't it?"
Pietro explained everything in a cheery tone, and hearing him speak in that way set Lumia's teeth on edge.
"Just what is so funny?" she asked.
Upon seeing the dangerous glint in her eyes, Pietro jumped back. "I...I'm sorry. Um...we'll get revenge on those mercenaries too..."
"How?"
"Right. We've made the military police capture them in exchange for this woman's safety. After that..."
"After that, you plan on ambushing them at the meeting spot and then killing them in one swoop?"
"I didn't expect anything less from you, Mistress Jeanne. That's exactly it. We've gathered all of our men for this, so I expect we'll be able to deliver some good news to you very soon."
"So I suppose there's not much time left," Lumia sighed.
Such a simple method—one that any civilian could conceive on their own—would never be enough to defeat Asura, nor would it destroy Moon Blossom.
"Time, you say?" Pietro asked.
"Yes. There's not much time left...for you." Lumia smiled.
The blood drained from Pietro's face. "Mistress Jeanne! If this is about the casino, then I'll make up for the losses immediately! Please give me another chance!"
Lumia ignored Pietro and took a sip from her tea. It was so good that she took another. Then she placed the cup back down.
"I hate trash. But I still believe that it's best to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. I'm telling the truth here. So you better pray with all your might that Commandant Circie is still alive."
"D-Did...we do something wrong?" Pietro looked down at Circie. "I don't believe that she's died yet..."
"I see. I'm glad to hear that," Lumia said with a gentle smile. "Then let's have a chat, Pietro. For starters, let me tell you something: I'm not your Mistress Jeanne."
Pietro's mouth fell open and his eyes widened at the revelation. "Huh? But...the angel of death..."
"I'm Lumia Canarre of the mercenary group, Moon Blossom. I'm not Jeanne. Now that I've laid my cards on the table, there's something that I'd like to ask you. I hope that you can provide me with an answer."
"Wait, you piece of shit! Are you messing with me?! Moon Blossom was the group that destroyed our casino! Hey! Kill this bitch!" Pietro yelled, and at his command, the Felmafia members close to them drew their swords.
"Divine Retribution," Lumia said calmly. In the next moment, an angel of death descended from the heavens and slaughtered all of the Felmafia members who had their weapons out. They dissolved into bits and pieces of meat and splattered onto the ground. In an instant, the room became a sea of blood. "All I said is that I'm not Jeanne. When did I ever say that my angel of death was an imitation? Listen, Pietro, I'm not interested in chatting with a corpse. You'll talk, won't you?"
Everyone froze in the face of such a horrendous sight, as if time itself had stopped.
"H-How...could this be?" Pietro asked. "Your...that's...that's the real angel of death... But if you're not Mistress Jeanne, then seriously... Who are you?"
"I've already given you my name." Lumia shrugged, and as if it was an unspoken command, the angel disappeared. "As for what I want to ask you, I'd like to know who your superior is. If you lie to me, I'll kill you. If you hesitate to give me an answer, I'll kill you."
"God Hand..."
"The hand of God? What kind of position do they hold?"
"Little Gods like us are the captains of the Felmafia's operations within a country. But God Hands are in charge of entire regions."
"So there are three of them, then—one in the east, one in the west, and one in the central area?" Pietro nodded at Lumia's question so she continued, "And what about their superior? Is that who Jeanne is?"
"No... The person coordinating the God Hands is the Blessed Child..."
"'Blessed Child'? Tell me about them."
"She's a brat...who receives all of Mistress Jeanne's favor and affections."
"Give me more details, Pietro. Please don't waste my time."
"Damn, what the hell... The Blessed Child is a girl who looks fourteen, but she's really seventeen, according to God Hand. I hear she's almost always at Mistress Jeanne's side. I've only seen her once, when she came to a meeting with the other God Hands. She's a snotty-nosed redhead. I didn't speak with her one-on-one. She had a cute voice, and despite how sassy she looked, she commended us on our hard work with a smile. Not me personally, of course, but the Little Gods as a whole."
"She has red hair, and she looks younger than her actual age?"
"Tsk, her hair was about shoulder-length! And she always wears clothes that show off her navel! She's got weird fashion sense! That's all I know!"
"I see." Nothing about the girl's description seemed familiar to Lumia. Her age doesn't match anyway, so she probably has nothing to do with the Oathkeeper Brigade.
Pietro let out a long breath as if to calm himself down. "Is that all you wanted to know?" he asked after he finished. "If you're done, then can I ask you to get out of here? You can take Circie with you if you want."
"I'm not done yet. Tell me God Hand's name."
"I only know the God Hand from the eastern region..."
"That's fine. Tell me."
"Miriam... I don't know her last name."
"Is she a tall woman with black hair? Looks to be around thirty years old?"
"How did you know that?" Pietro asked, eyes wide in surprise.
"It's because Miriam used to be a member of the Oathkeeper Brigade."
"You...are a member of the Oathkeepers? Then aren't you one of Mistress Jeanne's subordinates...?"
"I'm not. The only boss I answer to is Asura and Asura alone. Even if I used to be a member of the Oathkeeper Brigade, things have changed. But I'm sure you can understand why I'm interested. It's not every day that you hear Jeanne's name." Lumia smiled, but there was something empty behind the expression. "I'd heard the rumors about Jeanne heading an underground organization. But I ignored them. At this point, everyone associates her name with her sins. It's cursed. So wouldn't you say it's a fitting name for a criminal?"
"Are you saying that Mistress Jeanne is lying about her identity?"
"But the rumors have become more reputable with the knowledge that even the heroes suspect she's the real deal and are looking for her. And now Miriam... Even if God isn't really Jeanne, there's a high chance that they're still an associate of the Oathkeeper Brigade. We all went our separate ways, but every once in a while, I get curious as to what everyone is up to. If one of my old compatriots has sunk so low that they've turned to a life of crime, then that makes me very sad."
That was why Lumia had come here before Asura could. It was so that she could gather the information that she was interested in. The only fate awaiting Pietro was death. Asura would definitely kill him, so if she was here, then Lumia would have no time to talk to Pietro about any of this. The only way she could've heard about this was if she interrogated Pietro before Asura.
"Do you plan on...punishing your former allies?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure. Perhaps I simply wanted to know their whereabouts."
"Let me tell you this," Pietro snarled as he glared at Lumia. "You're not one to talk. You're a mercenary who would do anything so long as you could get money from it, and you killed my men under the guise of Divine Retribution. You've sunk just as low as anyone from my organization."
"That's right." Lumia didn't plan on arguing that point. "I honestly don't like Divine Retribution very much. Asura seems to think I despise it, but I wouldn't go that far. I simply don't like it because when everyone sees my angel of death, they think of me as Jeanne, right? And it's so boring to use it. Whenever I cast it, everyone simply dies, so I try not to use it for normal jobs."
"You're really the worst one of them all, Little Miss Bloodthirsty Mercenary. No matter how pretty a yarn you spin, the Oathkeeper Brigade is nothing more than a collection of battle-hungry crazies. If you have nothing else you wanna ask me, then get out of my sight."
"That's right. I love to fight. I can't get enough of it. I didn't want to accept that part of myself, so I pretended it didn't exist, but Asura saw through me. She said that I was both adorable and repulsive for it, and she's absolutely correct."
"Hey! If you're just going to spout your narcissistic nonsense, then do it somewhere else!"
"When I set fire to those tents in the Therbaen encampment, my heart was racing," Lumia continued, ignoring Pietro. "When I fought against Matias and exchanged blows with him, I even got a little wet. Hee hee, this is a secret, all right? If I hadn't sworn a vow of chastity, I probably would've turned out a huge slut."
"Shit! What the hell?! This is the worst day of my life, dammit!" Pietro yelled, his face twisted in disgust. As much as he wanted to eliminate Lumia, he knew that there was absolutely no way he would be able to pull it off.
"Oh, no, this is only the beginning," Lumia said, her voice suddenly calm. The juxtaposition took Pietro off guard and he was stunned into silence. "The worst part of your day is going to happen very soon. That's what I'm waiting for. But it's boring to just sit around in silence, isn't it? So that's why we're having this chat."
"What are you talking about? How could anything be worse than you?" Pietro snapped. It looked like he was barely containing himself from punching something out of frustrated anger.
"You're such a fool. It looks like you still haven't realized just who you've made an enemy of. You don't even know who you destroyed in your past. How sad. I truly, from the bottom of my heart, pity you."
"If you want to talk to someone, then go find a priest! Please just get outta here! I'm begging you!" Pietro slammed his fists down upon the table.
"Let me give you a heads-up. You seem to be afraid of me, but I'm not that scary compared to her. I'm like a cat napping in the sun. Do you know the reason I crawled up from the shadows?"
"How the hell should I know?" Pietro growled, his hands trembling from how hard he was clenching them. Lumia was even a little worried that he would drop dead from the stress.
"It's because I peered into the abyss and spent time with true darkness. That's it. That very same darkness will come and consume you. Pay attention. Don't you hear its footsteps? It's right there. Oh, you poor man. But I won't pray for you, because you're truly a horrendous piece of trash."
At the same time Lumia finished talking, somebody kicked the door down. Lumia figured it was likely Marx. And, lo and behold, Marx was the one to walk in first, followed by the other members of Moon Blossom. The guards in front of the door had likely been killed before they could even open their mouths to scream.
"Oh? So you really were here," Asura said when she saw Lumia.
"Wait...what is that?" Iris's expression twisted when she saw the pieces of flesh strewn around the ground. "A-Are these...corpses?"
"Oh my. Iris, you came too?" Despite her words, Lumia wasn't surprised. Iris's job was to monitor them, so it was obvious that she would accompany Moon Blossom.
"She tried to help us. Hilarious, yeah?" Jyrki said, smirking.
"More like...she was in our way..." Iina sighed.
"I mean, you guys were ambushed even though they said they wanted to exchange Commandant Circie for you! That's totally unfair!"
"Well, we could handle brigands of their level with our bare hands," Asura chuckled. "We have magic, and they were so kind as to prepare all sorts of weapons for us to borrow."
"We didn't manage to get the dudes from the Assassination Alliance though," Jyrki sighed.
"Vice Captain, is Circie the woman collapsed over there?" Marx asked after looking around the room.
"That's right. It seems that she's still alive, so let's take her back with us."
"If she's alive, then there's no reason not to," Asura agreed. "Hmm, we can kill everyone from the Felmafia except for Pietro. I'm sure Lumia already got all of the information she wanted from him."
Asura glanced at Pietro and then sat down on the sofa next to Lumia. With that single look, she communicated to the rest of Moon Blossom which one Pietro was. Then they quickly killed the remnants, who had been cowering in the corners.
"What the hell's up with these guys? They didn't even put up a fight, like they already gave up. Is it 'cause you did this, Vice Cap'n?" Jyrki asked after he looked down at the puddles of blood on the floor.
Lumia raised her right hand and waved it lightly in a "That's right" sort of motion. She didn't know whether Jyrki understood it though. Salume and Reko walked over to Circie and gently shook her. At the motion, she groaned softly. Marx covered her up with his robes. Meanwhile, Iris stood against the wall, watching over the proceedings while staying out of everyone's way. It was unclear whether she'd decided to remain silent because she understood that the Felmafia were filthy criminals, or whether it was because she was scared after the whippings.
"Now then, Pietro," Asura said, "long time no see. Have you been well? Ahh, of course you have, though I suppose that only lasted until you met my deputy here?"
"Who...are you?" Pietro asked in a dull tone. He had also lost the will to fight after realizing that he would die in this place.
"Don't say such sad things, Pietro. Didn't we enjoy a nice little vacation together ten years ago? Come on, I'm sure you can remember how you dropped by a small village while searching for Jeanne Autun Lala."
After Asura said that, Pietro's eyes shot open. Then, he paled and started to tremble violently. "Y-You're from..." Even his voice was shaking. "You... We..." His breath started to come in sharp pants, and it was clear that he wasn't able to properly pull air into his lungs.
"What's wrong, Pietro? Calm down. It's all right. Take some deep breaths. Breathe in, breathe out. Now you try."
Pietro followed Asura's instructions and started breathing slowly. Even so, his body wouldn't stop shaking, and his face remained as pale as ever. "You're the silver-haired toddler...who...slaughtered us all?"
Pietro must have seen something. Oh, that poor man, Lumia thought. But it's understandable that he would react that way. Anyone would."That's not exactly what happened, is it? You were two squads led by one sergeant for a total of eleven people. Yet I only killed nine. You and that female sergeant managed to escape, remember?"
The sight of a three-year-old little girl going around murdering soldiers is something you would only see in your nightmares, after all.
"Ahh... Damn! It really is the worst day of my life, goddammit! A monster of a woman just had to show up and bring something even worse with her."
"How rude," Lumia said.
"Now then, let's reminisce a little, Pietro. The innocent me from before I knew who I really was still weeps over what happened. If I don't clear this debt, then the current version of myself will be crushed under these feelings. In my past life, I almost never experienced emotions, so it's ironic how much they're affecting me in this one. I'd forgotten everything and was living in such peace, and yet you brought me back to life."