Quincy led the two through the doors and into another room. It was large and was clearly the main chamber. After walking in through the door, the first thing they saw was a cascading waterfall falling from a questionable 情報源 in the ceiling, falling into a pond below. Walking around the waterfall, they crossed a small wooden bridge over the pond and headed toward the three steps that brought them up to where a large black 王位 chair sat, clearly meaning that the room was the 王位 room. The three stopped before the steps, as that would be overstepping their rights.
Standing beside the 王位 was a young woman wearing a traditional black and white maid outfit with proper length, hiding all of her body except for her face and soft hands. She wore the white hair piece of the outfit in her dark black hair and smiled benevolently as she saw the two that entered, curtseying politely.
Were their faces もっと見る similar, the woman sitting in the 王位 could have been the maid’s older sister. She was a frightfully beautiful woman whose age could not be possibly guessed at, her long black hair likely longer than her own body as it cascaded down from the 王位 to touch the ground. She wore a beautifully woven black dress without a back so that her shoulders and upper most portions of her chest were bared. However, this would be immodest dress was long enough to hide her body’s shape and her legs. She wore black heels and sat with one leg folded over the other, resting her head on one hand that was propped up with her elbow on the arm of the throne. She wore black silk gloves that reached down to her elbows and had a face that seemed to be carved out of ice. She didn’t even look toward the two that bowed as she kept her gaze focused on the waterfall that was positioned to fall right before her throne, much like one would position a テレビ to be right in front of their couch. Even someone like Sebastian could guess that the waterfall was meant for scrying.
“Welcome to Kiev Manor, ホーム to the only legal witch’s guild in Europe, honored guests. It’s a lovely night to receive guests, but we do not even have a シート, 座席 to currently offer you. Please accept my deepest apologies on behalf of my mistress.”
The young woman in the maid outfit apologized formally when the woman seated on the 王位 did not say anything.
“It’s not a problem.” Ophelia assured as both she and Sebastian knelt on one knee. “We have come seeking assistance from the devil king of Eastern ヨーロッパ known as the ‘Queen of Witches’. If it is not too much to ask, we request she imparts to us some of our wisdom.”
“‘Wisdom’?”
“A matter concerning witchcraft has come up and we are quite in the dark.”
The maid looked toward the woman in the 王位 with an expression of uncomprehending. The woman sighed calmly.
“She is referring to an encounter with スーパーナチュラル creatures, Polyushka.” The woman spoke with soft and flowing voice that held no hesitation または uncertainty. “She identified a spell as witchcraft and has come seeking help from an expert in witchcraft—the クイーン of Witches and devil king of Eastern Europe, Fedosia Martel. In other words, me.”
“You knew about the spiders, milady.”
Sebastian spoke the words tonelessly without it being a question. He had to struggle to hide the concern in his voice as the worst possible scenario became a very real possibility. Had they just walked into the lion’s den?
Fedosia Martel’s eyes peered toward the knight casually, not being fooled によって his attempt to hide his emotions.
“I did.” She agreed simply. “I am perfectly aware of the fact that monsters summoned using unholy magic have been near you. Their smell lingers on あなた even now, knight. And the smell of death lingers on the young mage beside you. It is incredibly easy for me to deduce what occurred without あなた saying a word. Those spiders must have been chasing an animal and, in a valiant effort to save it, あなた fought them. If あなた speak of witchcraft, then the spell used to make the foul creatures pursue the animal あなた defended must have been witchery in origin. And so あなた come here, wishing to inquire about the situation. Am I correct?”
Sebastian gritted his teeth as he kept his head down respectfully.
“Milady…are あなた making fun of me?”
“I am. At any rate, it would be improper for me to turn あなた away after having come so far. At the very least, I can offer あなた the 回答 to your questions.”
“Please come and stand behind her throne.” Polyushka told the two knights even though there was no audible signal from her mistress. It seemed the two knew each other long enough to be able to predict one another’s actions to an extent without speaking. “And turn your attention to the reflections in the waterfall.”
Sebastian and Ophelia did as they were told with Quincy trailing behind him. The four of them stood around Fedosia’s 王位 at a respectful distance, looking into the waterfall. It was a few moments before they could see it, but once they saw it, it was impossible to miss. It was a town somewhere within Ukraine, probably, burning to the ground in a fierce blaze. Bodies littered the ground, some ripped in half, none moving.
“Those bodies…are empty!” Ophelia gasped with a hand over her mouth, seeing something that Sebastian could not. Polyushka nodded grimly.
“The Wild Hunt. Though they are not experts in dark magic, they naturally have the capacity for things such as kidnapping souls and hunting down their targets to the end. Those spiders あなた met had likely been sent によって them to hunt down the animal あなた found. They do not care much for the worth of what they hunt so long as it can be hunted.”
“Where have their souls been taken?” Sebastian demanded as he gripped his hands tightly. “What do they do with them?”
“They will most probably just keep them captive. They do not think ahead far enough to decide what to do with the souls of ランダム people—”
“How can あなた say that so easily?! If they aren’t handled correctly, those souls won’t even make it to the afterlife! They’ll simply meet oblivion—a fate worse than hell!”
Sebastian ロスト his temper, his voice raising several octaves. Polyushka apologetically bowed her head, saying nothing.
“Settle down, Sebastian.” Quincy 発言しました as he gripped the knight’s shoulder firmly, pulling him away from the 王位 and the sight of the burning bodies. “Letting your emotions get the best of あなた will not solve anything.”
“Then what do あなた propose I do?!”
“Let’s at least hear a proper explanation.” Ophelia murmured in a small voice. Sebastian felt his rage wither as he saw her sorrowful face. No one hated the sight of death もっと見る than she did. “This may be a situation much worse than I imagined…”
Quincy nodded in agreement, apparently happy to see one person with a level head.
“The Wild Hunt normally acts without reservation または proper motive.” Quincy began explaining and Sebastian glanced toward the back of the 王位 the devil king sat in. The back of her head remained to them as she continued to observe the actions of the Wild Hunt, 表示中 no interest in their conversation. “They will destroy what they can and kidnap living souls without a 秒 thought. Though it seems that is what they are doing, there are strange patterns in their behavior. They 移動する less like a vagrant undead tribe with no purpose and もっと見る like an army. Furthermore, the eastern countries are having bloody disputes with one another, claiming that the other is sending spies, plotting war, and so on. It helps us when hiding the towns and cities that have been ロスト due to スーパーナチュラル raids によって these phantasmal monsters, but the disputes are not an effect the Wild Hunt should have when manifesting in this world.”
“Then it’s a heretic god.” Ophelia realized with a small gasp. “A war god.”
“Correct.” Quincy nodded in affirmation. “Most likely Mars, the Roman god of war. He was a powerful deity and is not one to be taken lightly.”
“But why is he having the Wild Hunt do this?”
“He’s most likely looking for his spear.” Quincy sighed in exasperation. “The Spear of Mars is an important Roman symbol and a powerful part of their regalia, 発言しました to tremble whenever danger comes to the state. Suffice to say, it was stolen from him and he now wishes to reclaim it.”
“But wasn’t Mars a bringer of peace?” Ophelia insisted with uncertainty. “Why would he bring this sort of mayhem, even for his spear?”
“Heretic gods tend to leave behind their もっと見る charming aspects as it gets in the way of causing as much destruction as possible. Don’t bother trying to rationalize the reaction—such drastic and unreasonable measures can only be expected of one on the level of divinity.”
Ophelia thought she heard a note of bitterness directed toward someone または something else.
“Who ストール, 盗んだ the spear?”
“We do not know.”
Sebastian asked the important 質問 with a slight amount of impatience and was unsurprised to hear Quincy give the disappointing answer. If he had known, he would have 発言しました so already.
“In that case, where are they keeping the kidnapped souls? If we can’t reason with Mars to release them, we’ll just have to liberate them ourselves. I’ll do it alone if I have to.”
“We will not expend our lives in an effort to deal with the Wild Hunt. Were it Mars alone, that would be one thing, but against the entire Wild Hunt in addition to a heretic god? It’s pure foolishness.”
“I don’t plan to fight Mars at all. I know that would be a suicide mission. I only plan to rescue the kidnapped souls. They don’t deserve to be incarcerated. Just tell me where they are; I won’t ask あなた to come with me.”
“That’s still reckless, Sebastian Locksley. What reason do あなた have to save total strangers?”
“There is never a need for a reason while lives are being lost.”
Quincy grimaced in dissatisfaction and maybe anger, his teeth grinding together. Sebastian wondered why Quincy was so annoyed that he would act so recklessly. Did he have a traumatic experience with this sort of thing before?
“Fine.” Quincy relented finally with reluctance. “But if あなた must go, at least take this. It will grant あなた 安全, 安全です passage through the area until あなた reach your destination.”
Quincy reached into his コート and took out a bronze rod. Sebastian took it after Quincy murmured spell words over it and handed it to him.
“It’s similar to a divining rod, but it uses magic.” Quincy explained as Sebastian looked at it curiously. “It will always point toward the 情報源 of unfamiliar witchcraft. It’s used to ours, so it will definitely point あなた toward the Wild Hunt’s horde.”
“Thank you.” Sebastian bowed his head gratefully. “I will not forget the kindness of Lady Martel または her subordinates. I am indebted to you.”
Sebastian turned toward Ophelia as he was ready to leave, but Fedosia’s voice came from her 王位 as she laxly leaned one head to the side, looking at their reflection in the cascading waterfall.
“I refuse to allow a knight to bring a lady into danger, no matter what the circumstances. Ophelia Archard will stay here as あなた go on your suicidal quest.”
Ophelia’s eyes widened in protest and she immediately looked toward Sebastian for assistance. But Sebastian shook his head. Honestly, he was gladly the devil king had spoken up. He wanted to leave Ophelia behind from the beginning, but knew she would insist on tagging along, wishing to do something rather than nothing.
“We can’t ignore the words of a devil king.” Sebastian 発言しました with an apologetic tone. Ophelia must not have been fooled; she glared at him with a pouting expression fiercely until he left the room.
“He’s certainly worthy of the タイトル of knight.” Quincy sighed as he folded his arms across his chest. “I can only hope he survives.”
“He’s not self-destructive によって nature.” Ophelia assured as she looked longing at the door. “He just has a strong sense of justice.”
The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable. Everyone was just deep in thought as they considered things from their own perspective. Eventually, Polyushka shot Quincy a look of reproach, indicating that he should not continue to have Ophelia stand. So the two exited the room to find somewhere for the girl to relax, away from any lingering spells of witchcraft that could make her sick.
“Speaking of the devil…king.” Fedosia Martel murmured aloud as she recalled those words Ophelia had spoken earlier, observing the figure that pushed open the door on the other side of the waterfall with a short knock.
Standing beside the 王位 was a young woman wearing a traditional black and white maid outfit with proper length, hiding all of her body except for her face and soft hands. She wore the white hair piece of the outfit in her dark black hair and smiled benevolently as she saw the two that entered, curtseying politely.
Were their faces もっと見る similar, the woman sitting in the 王位 could have been the maid’s older sister. She was a frightfully beautiful woman whose age could not be possibly guessed at, her long black hair likely longer than her own body as it cascaded down from the 王位 to touch the ground. She wore a beautifully woven black dress without a back so that her shoulders and upper most portions of her chest were bared. However, this would be immodest dress was long enough to hide her body’s shape and her legs. She wore black heels and sat with one leg folded over the other, resting her head on one hand that was propped up with her elbow on the arm of the throne. She wore black silk gloves that reached down to her elbows and had a face that seemed to be carved out of ice. She didn’t even look toward the two that bowed as she kept her gaze focused on the waterfall that was positioned to fall right before her throne, much like one would position a テレビ to be right in front of their couch. Even someone like Sebastian could guess that the waterfall was meant for scrying.
“Welcome to Kiev Manor, ホーム to the only legal witch’s guild in Europe, honored guests. It’s a lovely night to receive guests, but we do not even have a シート, 座席 to currently offer you. Please accept my deepest apologies on behalf of my mistress.”
The young woman in the maid outfit apologized formally when the woman seated on the 王位 did not say anything.
“It’s not a problem.” Ophelia assured as both she and Sebastian knelt on one knee. “We have come seeking assistance from the devil king of Eastern ヨーロッパ known as the ‘Queen of Witches’. If it is not too much to ask, we request she imparts to us some of our wisdom.”
“‘Wisdom’?”
“A matter concerning witchcraft has come up and we are quite in the dark.”
The maid looked toward the woman in the 王位 with an expression of uncomprehending. The woman sighed calmly.
“She is referring to an encounter with スーパーナチュラル creatures, Polyushka.” The woman spoke with soft and flowing voice that held no hesitation または uncertainty. “She identified a spell as witchcraft and has come seeking help from an expert in witchcraft—the クイーン of Witches and devil king of Eastern Europe, Fedosia Martel. In other words, me.”
“You knew about the spiders, milady.”
Sebastian spoke the words tonelessly without it being a question. He had to struggle to hide the concern in his voice as the worst possible scenario became a very real possibility. Had they just walked into the lion’s den?
Fedosia Martel’s eyes peered toward the knight casually, not being fooled によって his attempt to hide his emotions.
“I did.” She agreed simply. “I am perfectly aware of the fact that monsters summoned using unholy magic have been near you. Their smell lingers on あなた even now, knight. And the smell of death lingers on the young mage beside you. It is incredibly easy for me to deduce what occurred without あなた saying a word. Those spiders must have been chasing an animal and, in a valiant effort to save it, あなた fought them. If あなた speak of witchcraft, then the spell used to make the foul creatures pursue the animal あなた defended must have been witchery in origin. And so あなた come here, wishing to inquire about the situation. Am I correct?”
Sebastian gritted his teeth as he kept his head down respectfully.
“Milady…are あなた making fun of me?”
“I am. At any rate, it would be improper for me to turn あなた away after having come so far. At the very least, I can offer あなた the 回答 to your questions.”
“Please come and stand behind her throne.” Polyushka told the two knights even though there was no audible signal from her mistress. It seemed the two knew each other long enough to be able to predict one another’s actions to an extent without speaking. “And turn your attention to the reflections in the waterfall.”
Sebastian and Ophelia did as they were told with Quincy trailing behind him. The four of them stood around Fedosia’s 王位 at a respectful distance, looking into the waterfall. It was a few moments before they could see it, but once they saw it, it was impossible to miss. It was a town somewhere within Ukraine, probably, burning to the ground in a fierce blaze. Bodies littered the ground, some ripped in half, none moving.
“Those bodies…are empty!” Ophelia gasped with a hand over her mouth, seeing something that Sebastian could not. Polyushka nodded grimly.
“The Wild Hunt. Though they are not experts in dark magic, they naturally have the capacity for things such as kidnapping souls and hunting down their targets to the end. Those spiders あなた met had likely been sent によって them to hunt down the animal あなた found. They do not care much for the worth of what they hunt so long as it can be hunted.”
“Where have their souls been taken?” Sebastian demanded as he gripped his hands tightly. “What do they do with them?”
“They will most probably just keep them captive. They do not think ahead far enough to decide what to do with the souls of ランダム people—”
“How can あなた say that so easily?! If they aren’t handled correctly, those souls won’t even make it to the afterlife! They’ll simply meet oblivion—a fate worse than hell!”
Sebastian ロスト his temper, his voice raising several octaves. Polyushka apologetically bowed her head, saying nothing.
“Settle down, Sebastian.” Quincy 発言しました as he gripped the knight’s shoulder firmly, pulling him away from the 王位 and the sight of the burning bodies. “Letting your emotions get the best of あなた will not solve anything.”
“Then what do あなた propose I do?!”
“Let’s at least hear a proper explanation.” Ophelia murmured in a small voice. Sebastian felt his rage wither as he saw her sorrowful face. No one hated the sight of death もっと見る than she did. “This may be a situation much worse than I imagined…”
Quincy nodded in agreement, apparently happy to see one person with a level head.
“The Wild Hunt normally acts without reservation または proper motive.” Quincy began explaining and Sebastian glanced toward the back of the 王位 the devil king sat in. The back of her head remained to them as she continued to observe the actions of the Wild Hunt, 表示中 no interest in their conversation. “They will destroy what they can and kidnap living souls without a 秒 thought. Though it seems that is what they are doing, there are strange patterns in their behavior. They 移動する less like a vagrant undead tribe with no purpose and もっと見る like an army. Furthermore, the eastern countries are having bloody disputes with one another, claiming that the other is sending spies, plotting war, and so on. It helps us when hiding the towns and cities that have been ロスト due to スーパーナチュラル raids によって these phantasmal monsters, but the disputes are not an effect the Wild Hunt should have when manifesting in this world.”
“Then it’s a heretic god.” Ophelia realized with a small gasp. “A war god.”
“Correct.” Quincy nodded in affirmation. “Most likely Mars, the Roman god of war. He was a powerful deity and is not one to be taken lightly.”
“But why is he having the Wild Hunt do this?”
“He’s most likely looking for his spear.” Quincy sighed in exasperation. “The Spear of Mars is an important Roman symbol and a powerful part of their regalia, 発言しました to tremble whenever danger comes to the state. Suffice to say, it was stolen from him and he now wishes to reclaim it.”
“But wasn’t Mars a bringer of peace?” Ophelia insisted with uncertainty. “Why would he bring this sort of mayhem, even for his spear?”
“Heretic gods tend to leave behind their もっと見る charming aspects as it gets in the way of causing as much destruction as possible. Don’t bother trying to rationalize the reaction—such drastic and unreasonable measures can only be expected of one on the level of divinity.”
Ophelia thought she heard a note of bitterness directed toward someone または something else.
“Who ストール, 盗んだ the spear?”
“We do not know.”
Sebastian asked the important 質問 with a slight amount of impatience and was unsurprised to hear Quincy give the disappointing answer. If he had known, he would have 発言しました so already.
“In that case, where are they keeping the kidnapped souls? If we can’t reason with Mars to release them, we’ll just have to liberate them ourselves. I’ll do it alone if I have to.”
“We will not expend our lives in an effort to deal with the Wild Hunt. Were it Mars alone, that would be one thing, but against the entire Wild Hunt in addition to a heretic god? It’s pure foolishness.”
“I don’t plan to fight Mars at all. I know that would be a suicide mission. I only plan to rescue the kidnapped souls. They don’t deserve to be incarcerated. Just tell me where they are; I won’t ask あなた to come with me.”
“That’s still reckless, Sebastian Locksley. What reason do あなた have to save total strangers?”
“There is never a need for a reason while lives are being lost.”
Quincy grimaced in dissatisfaction and maybe anger, his teeth grinding together. Sebastian wondered why Quincy was so annoyed that he would act so recklessly. Did he have a traumatic experience with this sort of thing before?
“Fine.” Quincy relented finally with reluctance. “But if あなた must go, at least take this. It will grant あなた 安全, 安全です passage through the area until あなた reach your destination.”
Quincy reached into his コート and took out a bronze rod. Sebastian took it after Quincy murmured spell words over it and handed it to him.
“It’s similar to a divining rod, but it uses magic.” Quincy explained as Sebastian looked at it curiously. “It will always point toward the 情報源 of unfamiliar witchcraft. It’s used to ours, so it will definitely point あなた toward the Wild Hunt’s horde.”
“Thank you.” Sebastian bowed his head gratefully. “I will not forget the kindness of Lady Martel または her subordinates. I am indebted to you.”
Sebastian turned toward Ophelia as he was ready to leave, but Fedosia’s voice came from her 王位 as she laxly leaned one head to the side, looking at their reflection in the cascading waterfall.
“I refuse to allow a knight to bring a lady into danger, no matter what the circumstances. Ophelia Archard will stay here as あなた go on your suicidal quest.”
Ophelia’s eyes widened in protest and she immediately looked toward Sebastian for assistance. But Sebastian shook his head. Honestly, he was gladly the devil king had spoken up. He wanted to leave Ophelia behind from the beginning, but knew she would insist on tagging along, wishing to do something rather than nothing.
“We can’t ignore the words of a devil king.” Sebastian 発言しました with an apologetic tone. Ophelia must not have been fooled; she glared at him with a pouting expression fiercely until he left the room.
“He’s certainly worthy of the タイトル of knight.” Quincy sighed as he folded his arms across his chest. “I can only hope he survives.”
“He’s not self-destructive によって nature.” Ophelia assured as she looked longing at the door. “He just has a strong sense of justice.”
The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable. Everyone was just deep in thought as they considered things from their own perspective. Eventually, Polyushka shot Quincy a look of reproach, indicating that he should not continue to have Ophelia stand. So the two exited the room to find somewhere for the girl to relax, away from any lingering spells of witchcraft that could make her sick.
“Speaking of the devil…king.” Fedosia Martel murmured aloud as she recalled those words Ophelia had spoken earlier, observing the figure that pushed open the door on the other side of the waterfall with a short knock.