3 bar menu

Chapter 56 Part 6 – Mr. Queer Witch and I are reading each other, causing sparks to fly around. And what are the seven phantoms!? And then, the third person from the five heroes!! Enter the fray, the melee, the great chaotic battle!

「…… Ahh …… so they looked happy.」

「Yes, very happy ……」

Mr. Queer Witch was crying at my words.
It felt as if my heart was grasped tightly.

It reminded me of how I once felt when I had just been crowned Queen of Hydrangea in the previous 「108 times」.
I had wanted to make it a kingdom overflowing with children’s smiles. I held the flame of an ideal in my heart.

But I was so overwhelmed by the reality that things didn’t turn out as I had hoped, so busy dealing with the endless national crisis, so occupied with keeping the kingdom from sinking, that I somehow forgot my dream …… But I wasn’t an atrocious queen from the beginning.

That’s why I really respect Mr. Queer Witch for not giving up on bringing smiles back to the children’s faces, even if it was only their souls, even if it was hundreds of years later. I thought it was amazing.

If the god of fate does not reward Mr. Queer Witch, I will say this out loud.

‘That’s okay, god. You can ridicule the person who works hard as much as you like. I will help this person. Don’t underestimate the power of human beings to shape their future. For you who continue to act as a spectator, I’ll make sure to make you have a tearful expression on your face.’

Eh? Ascending to the throne as queen?
There is no way I’m going to do such a troublesome thing again.

After all, in this new phase of my life, I have a star to look forward to, Princess Margaret.
If she ascends to the throne, Hydrangea will be safe and sound.
I can rest assured and continue to diligently pursue the path of becoming a shut-in.
I will be able to fully enjoy my life at home, doing nothing but eating and sleeping.

「…… You looked really cool until about halfway through, but in the second half, you started to have an aura of a no-good person ……」

Bradd chuckled.

「But I also agree with Scarlet. I’d like to lend you a hand too. Let’s get along well.」

Bradd also offered his hand to Mr. Queer Witch.

「…… You guys ……!! What wonderful and kind children ……!! …… How I wish you guys could have met the children when they were still alive …… Thank you ……!!」

Mr. Queer Witch’s eyes were glistening with tears.
He took our hands in turn and thanked us, but to be honest, it was quite scary because he had vines all over his face, only his eyes were exposed and he was crying. Mother and everyone else who was listening to the conversation were also crying out of sympathy, making it a pretty surreal scene if you look at it from the sidelines.

I looked around at the battle-wrecked surroundings.

…… The forest was a mess of thriving vines and thorns.
The ground is covered with a weird mucus that looks like lotion.
And then, there’s also swarms of insects dancing boisterously after recovering from paralysis.
What kind of underworld village is this?

Looking at the disastrous scene around us, I gave up thinking too deeply about it.
I have no choice but to give up on restoring the land.

This was Countess Rosenthal’s territory, wasn’t it?
Uh huh, then I have no scruples even if it’s somewhat destroyed!!
Even if someone asks something about this, I’ll just pretend I don’t know anything.

「…… I can’t let you help me for free. I’ll return the favor with information. I can’t say too much, but this girl whose body I’m borrowing is ……」

After sniffling, Mr. Queer Witch began to speak and we leaned forward to hear it.
And at that moment.

「Nuahahaha!! Blabbermouth Dwayne-chan!! A lovely ballad of betrayal from a queer guy!? But you’re not supposed to tell that!! My humble self that had been listening respectfully was so surprised that I almost fell off the branch along with the cat!!」

A hysteric, grating voice echoed through the forest at night.

「…… Hiii ……!?」

I was so surprised and taken aback that it felt as if my heart was about to stop beating.

A masked man wearing a ridiculously long top hat and a tailcoat was hanging upside down, peering into my face. His clothes were all white, as if he was wearing burial clothes.
The mask was so smooth and flat that it looked like the egg of some mysterious creature and it gave the impression of being terribly blasphemous.

This mysterious person had never been here until just now!!

As evidence of that, not only me, but everyone here was frozen.
Leaving me aside, how is it possible that even Bradd and the others didn’t notice his presence!?

To our surprise, the mysterious person was hanging upside down like a bat with the back of one leg hooked on a tree branch. On his swaying body, there were creepy stuffed animals like dogs, cats, and other animals being hanged by their neck throughout his body. The eyeballs of the stuffed toys were moving in sync with the swaying momentum.

What is this!! Who the heck is this guy!?

As I stood there, stunned, the mysterious person placed one hand on his chest, skillfully bent down, and greeted us.
Of course, he was still upside down.

「…… Yaayaayaayaayaa!! Nice to meet you, end to meet you!! Cute, red-haired, pug-nosed child!! My humble self is Addis the Faceless, one of the seven phantoms!! As a token of our acquaintance, will the young lady give me one of your red eyeballs!! Later on, I’ll plant cat’s whiskers in it.」

He sneered as he treated me with contempt and his long fingers covered with white gloves stretched toward my eye sockets.

I suddenly came to my senses and reflexively tried to fight him off by hitting him with the ruby, but I was unable to do so because he grabbed the back of my collar and strongly pulled me backwards.

「Idiot!! What are you doing!! He’s dangerous!! Hold on to me!! Don’t let go!!」

Bradd yelled as he jumped back with one hand around my waist.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Bradd would never yell at me like this unless the situation was really dire.
I rushed to put my hands around Bradd’s neck and pulled my body so close to his that my dress was squashed.
I could feel Bradd’s body heat.
His heart was beating extremely fast from nervousness.

「…… I can tell by the signs. That’s an assassin-eater. Even in the underground society, they are the kind of people you should never get involved with. And that guy is in a completely different league. This is not an opponent I can fight while protecting you. Let’s get out of here.」

Bradd explained in a hushed voice while holding me tightly and retreating.
I gasped.
Bradd had activated 「Blood Atonement」.
Is that mysterious person so strong that he could make Bradd react like this?　
He looked so frivolous though.

「Nuahahaha!! Is it a game of tag? That’s great!! After playing tag, let’s play ball with the red-haired young lady’s head. One more time. One more time. Cut her head off!!」

I was so horrified that I wanted to wrap my hands around my neck.
Whether he’s strong or not, he’s definitely a dangerous guy.　

As it passed by us, we heard the sound of arrows and vines cutting through the wind.
Mother and Mr. Queer Witch attacked the white-clad mysterious person as he was about to make his move.

「Stay away from my daughter!! I’m your opponent!!」

「Addis!! Stay out of it!! That child’s opponent is me!!」

Mother had a new bow and arrow in her hand.
This time it was not a shortbow. It was a proper bow.
One of the imperial guards had brought it and handed it to mother just now.
It seemed that Mr. Queer Witch has also recovered from the paralysis.

「Nuahahaha!! It’s tough being popular, isn’t it!? But a capable man can calmly handle multiple approaches. Handsome pose!!」

The mysterious person in white crossed his hands in front of his eyes.
Mother grunted in shock.
That mysterious person had casually caught mother’s four arrows between his fingers, which were fired almost simultaneously.
Even though a normal bow is less powerful than a compound bow, this was no simple feat that can be done inside the forest at night, when even the moonlight is dim.
Moreover, he did it while still hanging upside down from a tree.

「A present from a married woman is such a turn-on!! Naughty love tastes like honey!? Please accept this heart-throbbing return gift!! Don’t worry. Love is something to be kept secret as much as possible. I’ll keep the return gift as a secret!!」

Mr. Queer Witch’s vines burst open in front of the mysterious person, even though his hands were still crossed.
It was as if he had put up an invisible barrier.
What is that!? Is that his technique?

「…… Mrs. Cornelia!! Dodge it!! He turned the arrow back!!」

Bradd shouted as his expression changed due to anger.
I followed his gaze and felt a chill run down my spine.
The four arrows that had been clipped in between the mysterious person’s fingers had disappeared, even though he had not moved at all.
Those four arrows suddenly appeared before mother’s eyes and rushed toward her simultaneously.

「Nuahahahaha!! Mr. Cupid struck the married woman’s heart!!」

「…… Kuh!!」

Mother immediately took an intercepting stance and shot down two arrows in mid-air in the blink of an eye.
However, the distance of the arrows were too close. The other two arrows would not be deflected in time.
It’s going to hit mother!!
I nearly screamed.

Sparks flew in the dark night.
A sharp metallic sound echoed through the air. An arrowhead collided against another arrowhead.

Mother was unharmed.
Someone’s arrow swooped down from the sky above and knocked down the two arrows with pinpoint accuracy.
It was not a human feat.
A huge white owl zipped past above the treetops.

「…… Aa …… Aah ……!!」

I began to tremble.

He’s the only one who could do such a thing.
I was familiar with that white owl and the trail of arrows suddenly falling from overhead all too well.
The scream that I had almost retracted gushed out from the back of my throat along with my trauma from the previous 「108 times」.

「Owaaaahhhhhhhh!?」

I was so shocked that my vocal cords regressed back to a baby.
Bubbles came out from the corner of my mouth as my head fell backwards.

Shot to death!! Shot to death!! And shot to death again!!

「Aerial view archery」, a heinous technique in which an owl shares its view from the sky above with the archer and the archer unilaterally shoots through the target with a sky-high shot from behind a cover far away.

Using that technique, he is the person who killed me the most in the previous 「108 times」 amongst the five heroes.
A brazen archer with brown skin, sharp golden eyes, and a wolf cut.

The Hunter of Darkness Arnold!!

Why is he appearing here!! Why!?
What the heck is going to happen next!?