I had done no more than cry out that there was an enemy.
Was that not the natural conclusion? If, upon opening one's eyes, one found not a Servant who had joined one's company, but a complete stranger instead, then any Heroic Spirit tempered by a harsh life would surely assume hostility first.
Thus had I faced that unfamiliar Servant, and when Jeanne and Ritsuka came running in alarm, I hurriedly explained the circumstances, believing they would understand.
"Raise your hands properly."
"......"
"Must I tell you again? Higher."
"......"
And so, beneath the cold and terrible gazes of Jeanne and Ritsuka, I was punished like a criminal. Kneeling upon the ground with both hands raised, I pondered in silence.
'...Why am I being punished?'
No matter how I turned it over in my mind, I could not understand. What fault, precisely, had been mine here?
As I desperately searched for some hidden offense, Jeanne, still glaring at me with sharpened eyes, spoke at last.
"So then... when you awoke, this Servant, whose name you did not even know—"
"—was giving Elius a lap pillow?"
"That is correct."
"......."
"......."
At my answer, Jeanne and Ritsuka looked upon me with eyes gone utterly cold. Faced with that chill, murderous stare, I quietly shut the mouth I had just opened.
Sweat beading upon my brow, I watched their mood as Jeanne and Ritsuka cast sidelong glances toward the root of all this calamity—the woman kneeling beside me.
"...Very well. Then who are you, nameless Servant, and why did you give him a lap pillow?"
"You ask of me?"
The Servant beside me, likewise kneeling, answered Jeanne's question. She bore green hair and dragon horns upon her head.
"This maiden is Kiyohime. I have manifested here in the Berserker class."
[Kiyohime]? If it is that Kiyohime, then from the [Legend of Kiyohime]... the daughter of Kiyotsugu?
"Just so."
"And her class is Berserker... ah?"
Through Ritsuka's communicator, Romani Archaman—who had been observing all that had transpired—let out a startled cry upon hearing her identity and class. I too felt cold sweat run down my back.
For the Kiyohime of the [Legend of Kiyohime] was infamous even in the Far East as one of the most fearsome women ever consumed by love.
She was the woman who, after the monk Anchin rejected her love, coiled herself about the bell in which he hid and burned him to death. And now her present class was Berserker.
Given the tale itself, it required little imagination to see what form her madness had taken. A woman who lived for love and died for love, now with her reason overturned by frenzy—and such a one had given me a lap pillow?
There could be only one answer.
Kiyohime believed me to be Anchin.
Romani seemed to have reached the same conclusion, for he looked at me with eyes full of pity. Meeting that sympathetic gaze, I prayed inwardly with all my heart that this might somehow not be so.
"And as for why I gave him a lap pillow—why, is it not obvious? Because Lord Elius is the reincarnation of Anchin-sama."
"........What did you say?"
But of course. As though to drive the stake in fully, she declared it before Jeanne without the slightest hesitation. Looking upon the stunned faces of Jeanne and Ritsuka, Kiyohime placed a hand upon her breast and continued.
"While I was engaged in battle with a half-dragon, I felt the prana within the pillar of light Lord Elius created, and in that instant I knew. 'Anchin-sama is there!'"
"So I abandoned the battle and hastened here without rest, by day and by night alike. And the moment I arrived and beheld my dear husband, I understood at once."
"Though your form and features differ, you are indeed the reincarnation of Anchin-sama."
As she said this, Kiyohime's cheeks flushed red. At the sight, I recoiled and shook my head at once.
"I-I was born and raised not in the Far East, but in Britain. There I met my death, and from there I was summoned to this place. Therefore, I am not Anchin."
"Hehe."
Even at my earnest denial, Kiyohime merely laughed behind the fan that covered her lips. Then she rose and came toward me.
"It is useless to lie. This maiden knows the truth. Having entered the cycle of rebirth, you lost your memories when you were reincarnated."
"But that is of no consequence. This Kiyohime remembers. And memories may simply be built anew from the beginning."
"So there is no problem at all, is there... An. Chin. Sama?"
Shiver
The moment I met Kiyohime's yellow eyes, a chill ran the length of my spine. Though they were fixed upon me, there was something hollow within them, and in that emptiness dwelt a madness enough to freeze the blood.
It seemed I was not the only one to feel it. Jeanne and Ritsuka, too, rubbed at their arms as they stared at Kiyohime.
All were struck silent by her madness. For a time, only stillness lay between us.
"W-wait a moment. You said you were fighting a half-dragon!? What do you mean by that?"
Yet the silence did not last long. It was broken by Romani's voice through the communicator. At his question, Kiyohime answered.
"...Ah, that dragon? Such an incomplete creature ought not exist at all... however, Lord Anchin is in need of strength at present, so I shall permit its existence for now."
What?
At Kiyohime's words, everyone present—including myself—turned to look at her. Yet she paid no heed to our stares. Instead, she turned her head toward a patch of brush nearby.
Still gazing at the thicket, Kiyohime curled one corner of her mouth in a mocking smile and spoke.
"How long do you intend to lurk in the bushes like some peeping degenerate, you blood-torture-loving pervert?"
Rustle
"Who are you calling a blood-torture-loving pervert, you wretch!? You damned stalker!"
At once, with an indignant cry, a female Servant sprang out from the brush Kiyohime had been watching.
She was a young woman with purple hair and jade-green eyes. Judging by her attire, she seemed a noble lady of some station. She glared fiercely at Kiyohime.
Yet Kiyohime, perhaps stung by the accusation, showed a faint vein rising at her brow. Even so, she forced a smile and replied.
"...Truly, you possess no capacity for learning at all. I told you before, did I not? I am not a stalker. I am merely 'a rear guard so devoted that it appears discreetly excessive.' This Kiyohime is a woman who lives by love, after all."
That was a stalker.
The nameless Servant seemed to think the same, for she shouted at Kiyohime without hesitation.
"That is exactly what a stalker is! You backwater squirrel from some damned island in the Far East!"
Fortunately, she at least appeared to possess a normal cast of mind. Pressing a hand to her forehead, she let out a sigh and then turned to us.
"Haaah... I suppose I should introduce myself first. I am Elizabeth Bathory. I manifested in the Lancer class, but really, I'm an idol!"
"...An idol?"
At Bathory's declaration, I reflexively repeated the word in disbelief. She nodded at once.
"Mm! Because I'm the greatest idol there is! ...Though, you there—you are handsome. Want to be my manager? I'll grant you the honor, just this once. Be grateful!"
"...."
She was not normal either. There truly was no one normal here. I covered my face with both hands.
Should I simply abandon the restoration of Human Order...?
"...Or perhaps," I muttered inwardly, "something strange had entered the midst of this company from the very beginning."
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