Katahane no Riku

At the outskirts of the royal capital, at the Barusak residence.

The beautiful white as chalk mansion was so silent to the point of it being ominous.

At the corridors normally there would be a great number of servants, spiritualists, and other people affiliated to the household going through. However, there wasn′t anyone. At the corners of the corridors that were so wide that even a carriage could go through, dust could clearly be seen. The windows were blurred, and the yard that was at the other side was in a even more deplorable state. The trees of the yard that used to be perfectly mended had its form destroyed and the dry leaves were piling up into a mountain.

The glory of the four spiritualist houses; the last family to have unmixed spiritualist blood; the household of Barusak.

The reason why all people vanished from the house had also been because of Rook Barusak′s frequent mishaps.

Prodigy, genius, great talent… The boy that had accumulated many achievements with his talent since young age was now only a normal person. Rather, it wouldn′t be exaggeration to say he was lower than just a normal person. After piling up failures onto failures, his prestige was finally all gone.

With the glory of the Barusak becoming hazy, there weren′t many servants that would stay for long at the residence, which started to feel as if dark clouds were wafting around it. Deciding the family was in a decline, they would immediately give up working there and go seek to serve a more influential house.

However, there was one more reason for that… There was another reason why there weren′t any people around.

—–

At the dining room.

A man and a woman were at the table, sitting in front of each other.

There were many colorful cuisines served on the table. A well-cooked bread that had a slightly grilled surface, a extravagantly made salad despite of it being winter, a soft beef that would melt only by giving it a bite, and also, a transparent-golden soup… Each of them were cuisine that were worth of being called first-grade.

The mood there wasn′t one people would be able to enjoy the taste of the food. The expression the servants inside that heavy mood were showing made it look as if they were pleading to leave the room.

The only one that didn′t show signs of fear was the woman, who calmly carried her food to her mouth… It was Riku Barusak.

She was skillfully moving the fork and the knife, but the movements were somewhat faltering. She was anxiously giving glances at the man in front of her who continued to eat his food, Raimon Barusak.

The only sounds at the room were the sounds of their knife and fork moving.

“Father.”

The one to break the silence was Raku Barusak.

A crack appeared at the choking mood.

“What′s the matter, Raku?”

Raimon Barusak quietly spoke. Without stopping his hand moving the fork, he casually continued to eat. The person that was the cause of this heavy mood was showing a very calm expression.

“…For how long are we to continue to be in this state?”

While looking downward, Raku asked Raimon his opinion. The face that was being reflected at her soup was one twisted in anxiety.

“Of course, until the time comes.”

Without looking at Raku, Raimon continued to eat his meal.

“Haven′t Raku also agreed to it?”

“That is… No, it is nothing.”

Raku was about to speak something, but immediately closed her mouth. Fearing the reaction from her father, this was something she definitely couldn′t speak of. Shutting her true feeling inside her heart, she grabbed a spoon. Rust started to stand out at the silver spoon. It seems the servants that would polish the tableware everyday weren′t there anymore.

“I have no objections to what father is doing. The dearest wish of the Barusak since the founding of this country… is finally going to be realized.”

Saying words of lie, Raku put the spoon in the soup. Her reflected face becomes distorted and it becomes impossible to be seen.

“Yes, if it is for the sake of this wish, I…”

Raku wasn′t able to continue her words.

Even if the following words were lies, she didn′t want to say them. Raimon didn′t overlook her hesitation. While still looking at the food, he shot an arrow of words at Raku.

“What kind of hesitation do you have for killing that defective product?”

Raimon′s tone of voice was plain, as if he was talking about today′s meal. It was a very nonchalant tone.

It wasn′t possible to feel even a single fragment of fatherly love in those words.

“The Demon Lord army has definitely found out the location of the seal. From our investigations, it seems Shibira has betrayed us and leaked the location.”

“…The whole Demon Lord army will be caught by the spiritualist surprise attack. We are supposed to let the Demon Lord go wild for some time after he is resurrected, right?”

“That′s correct, Raku.”

Raimon couldn′t fully hide his joy.

His voice from before was quiet, but now, it was filled with happiness.

“After just being released, the Demon Lord should become uncontrolled by his rage.”

The Demon Lord was going to see his army destroyed before his eyes.

Right after being unsealed, his hatred and resentment would escalate. However, after seeing the destroyed remains of the Demon Lord army, his anger would increase even more.

“The royal capital will fall to the Demon Lord.”

It was easy to imagine the picture.

The royal capital sinking into a sea of flames.

The nobility that enjoyed an elegant lifestyle and the poor people that wandered around the alleys; all of them would sink in the sea of blood. Together with the royalty, they would hug each other only to wait for the footsteps of the death to approach them. Raimon had already arranged those things with the other spiritualist houses. From head to head, the direct blood of the Barusak has been inherited. Hence, what the Barusak desired was the will of the other families.

The only ones that were at the royal palace were only spiritualists that didn′t have talent.

Them suppressing the Demon Lord was a dream inside a dream. If they were to stand in his way, they would only be able to hold him out for one second.

“The royal capital will fall. And then, the royal family will be wiped out.”

“And that is what father is aiming for.”

No matter how much the household was in the decline, here was still the main residence of the Barusak.

They still had many powerful spiritualists stationed there, thus having a military power that wouldn′t be lower to the other houses. This was the other reason why there was nobody here.

“At that timing, our Barusak army will move.”

It would be difficult to defeat the Demon Lord.

However, it was possible to seal him again.

Using the demon banning ceremony they prepared beforehand, they were going to seal the Demon Lord at the royal capital.

The only thing after this would be the management of the Shiidoru kingdom.

The royal family would have been destroyed by that point.

The only ones remaining that the populace could cling on would become the Barusak, who would have sealed the Demon Lord. Without being able to defend themselves on their own, the royal family would become extinct. Besides that, the spiritualists would have produced actual achievements by protecting the people from the Demon Lord. What′s more, this would have become the second time.

Even if other members of the royal family that had gone to other countries in a diplomatic mission or for other reasons were to return… there wouldn′t be any place for them at the kingdom of Shiidoru anymore. If they persisted in trying to get a standing there, they wouldn′t be able to escape from the hands of assassins.

“At this dawn, when the plan will have been completed… Is the kingdom of Shiidoru going to become of the Barusak, father?”

“That′s right. My plan is already entering at its final stages.”

Raimon was showing a bold smile.

“This will compensate for the torment of our ancestors.”

Since the old ages, the spiritualists have always been oppressed.

The spiritualists didn′t have anywhere to settle. Although they had the power to defeat demons, because their power was fearful, they would be avoided by people. People would look coldly at the spiritualists when saying thanks, and when any kind of problem happened, they would look at spiritualists with doubt. In documents, it is written that at times the situation went very badly, they would receive capital punishment without a chance for a trial.

“Indeed, this might be so.”

It had only been these last centuries that their treatment became better.

The head of the Barusak had won over the king of Shiidoru by sealing the Demon Lord.

The king of that time was a very splendid person, but his son was foolish. He didn′t attend to the strategy meeting when the Demon Lord army showed signs there were going to move in, and only stayed at the innermost place of the castle trembling like a coward. For the spiritualists, he was the perfect type of person to gain favor from.

The Barusak assassinated the splendid king and put the blame onto the Demon Lord. They killed all the capable people that started to suspect them, and only stupid people were left.

The Barusak, and also the other spiritualists who followed their plan felt like they could finally walk at the sunshine.

“If that defective product can die for this cause, then it would be a honor for him.”

“But, then…”

Those words automatically went out from Raku′s mouth. By the time she held her tongue, it was already too late. Raimon′s eyes were for the first time looking at Raku. Those eyes reflected the figure of the frightened Raku at them.

“Did you want to say something Raku? Say it one more time.”

That was an order.

The choice to not say it didn′t exist. If Raimon told her to [say] something, [there wasn′t any choice other than saying it]. There was no way someone like Raku could challenge her father. If she was to do that… Her father would consider her to be disloyal and her head would be separated from her body.

“In that case… wouldn′t it be better to use that corrupted red haired girl instead of Rook?”

While having cold sweat and being full of fear, she spoke of her true feelings in an indirect way.

“Why is that?”

“It is said that that deplorable red haired girl had joined the Demon Lord army. Wouldn′t it be better to use that girl as the sacrifice just before the demons are about to dispel the seal? Despite what he had done, Rook is still the heir of our family, so it wouldn′t be beneficial to kill him now.”

“In other words, Raku wants Rook to stay alive, right?”

“…Yes.”

Raku nodded.

Raku wanted Rook to live.

Her sole little brother was stupid to a fault. He was a womanizer, selfish and his head had a few problems. His appearance was first class, and the heart of the women would immediately fall to him, but he would fail when it counted.

However, he was a loveable fool, and he was Raku′s beloved and troublesome little brother.

“Rook mustn′t be killed.”

“No, I will make Rook the sacrifice. He is unnecessary to our house. Besides, we don′t need a successor anymore…”

With a white napkin, Raimon wiped his mouth.

“Father? What would you mean by saying we don′t need a successor anymore?”

“Ah, Raku doesn′t need to worry about it. It is impossible for you to become the heir.”

Raimon elegantly stood up from his chair. Raku still had many questions, but in the end, the conversation had ended without her having the chance to ask them. Raku silently looked at Raimon imposing back as he left the room.

—–

“Really, such lovely sister and brother love.”

As Raimon walked through the corridor, he complained, spitting out those words.

Raimon believed in Raku. Rather, he believed in her competence. There weren′t any parental feelings there. There were only two things that mattered for him; whether she would be of use to the Barusak or not.

“Well, it′s fine. The plan is already entering in its last stages after all.”

Raimon unlocked the door of the library.

Raising a creaking sound, he opened the door.

On the table, there was an unfinished book. Raimon sat down at the chair and soaked the pen with ink.

The title of the book was [Military story of the spiritualists]

They were books that were left by the previous heads of the Barusak family and were written as if it was a duty for them.

They were books written with the intend to leave their knowledge to the future generations. Like he would always do, Raimon was writing more things on the book. Mixing lies to the reality, he was decorating the history of the Barusak.

And then, when he was about to write about Rook, he suddenly remembered what Raku had told him.

“…Red haired girl, right.”

His red haired daughter was something avoided by people. 𝒇𝙧𝚎𝐞𝙬𝒆𝑏𝑛𝑜v𝚎𝒍.c𝑜m

It was something that needed to be erased from the history of the Barusak. However, he thought this could become somewhat of a lesson to the next generations. This would definitely become a lesson about the dangers of keeping red haired alive and the necessity to deal with them.

Moving his pen, he wrote about the red haired Riku.

“A red haired girl has been born.”

While remembering about the time Riku was born, Raimon smoothly wrote the letters, lining them up.

“”There weren′t any signs of the awakening of demon banning power. Going in accordance to our customs, I will kill her only at her seventh birthday. 𝐟re𝐞w𝐞𝒃𝓃𝒐𝐯𝚎𝒍.c૦𝚖

I threw my red haired daughter off a cliff. However, throwing her from that cliff was a very foolish thing to do. If only I had killed her personally at that time. If I had done that…””

By the time he was able to write up to that point, a presence pierced through Raimon, giving him a chill.

It was as if somebody had touched his back with cold hands; as if someone had pressed a sharp sword behind his neck.

“Who is it?”

Without turning back, Raimon asked.

He had locked the door. In order for someone to be able to enter the room, it was necessary to knock it before.

It was impossible for the intruder to have entered the room beforehand. No matter how much they were short handed in guards at the moment, there were still plenty strong people remaining here. At least, they would have noticed someone of Raku′s level coming here.

“Raku?”

Raimon thought back about the conversation they had at the dining room.

Raku wished for Rook to be saved. It wouldn′t be weird for her to come here to kill her father for the sake of this wish.

However… This wasn′t enough for Raimon to throw away other possibilities.

“Ara, how cruel. How could you mistake me for someone of the likes of Raku.”

It was a sweet voice that ringed nice to the ears.

On the contrary to that, the voice made Raimon get goosebumps on his back. As if to try blocking what was coming for him, Raimon drew his sword and turned back. Right at that moment, there was a halberd being thrust at his neck. The halberd had a speed that a normal sword wouldn′t be able to stop it no matter what.

“Gh!”( 「っく!」)

It was by a hair′s breath.

Changing the form of his sword, Raimon was able to protect his neck in time. Because he used the sword wrapped around his neck like a neck guard, the halberd failed to take his life. The loud metallic sound echoed through the library.

“How unfortunate.”

The wielder of the halberd took distance from Raimon with light steps.

Her red hair stood out at the dimly dark room.

She was leisurely holding a halberd of the size of her height with only one hand… The name of that devil was…

“What have you come here for, Riku Barusak?”