Tick-tock, tick-tock.
The clock hanging on the wall turned its hour hand with a noisy clatter. With its classic design, it was the sort of clock often used in clock towers. Marianne sat in her chair, staring blankly at it with an indifferent expression.
As she did, memories from the days when she had still been active in the Clock Tower suddenly came to mind.
She had enrolled about twelve years ago now. Her admission had been a little later than others, and she had been ostracized for it, but in the end, she had earned top marks. She could also clearly recall secretly crushing those who crossed the line in the process.
‘It wasn’t exactly an enjoyable life.’
Unfortunately, the students of the Clock Tower were simply on a level far too different from Marianne’s. The structure of it made it impossible to feel any thrill or sense of accomplishment even after beating them down.
Just as no one felt the exhilaration of victory from trampling ants to death, Marianne felt no great stirring even when she won duels against them. The only thing she had ever been interested in was how to become stronger. She had struggled in pursuit of that alone, and as a result, she became a criminal, but she did not regret it.
After all, had she not met her master? Merely recalling his face made her feel good, so why should she regret anything?
The only irritating thing was the unwanted act of playing lovers with Eddie. No matter how little romantic feeling there had been between them, even thinking about having stayed together for a brief time made her want to retch.
That bastard Eddie had even had a real lover on the side. Of course, Marianne did not know her face, nor did she particularly intend to find out.
Her sensitivity was not so abundant that she would spare any emotion for the lover of some decrepit old man. Even if she had met the woman face-to-face, she would probably have passed it off without much thought.
If Marianne had loved Eddie, she might have felt jealousy, but even before she signed her contract with Ian, she had not particularly liked Eddie. It had been nothing more than a purely businesslike relationship. It was absolutely nothing more than that, and there had often been times when it was less.
“……Hoo.”
Her thoughts had gone on too long. Marianne let out a long breath and crossed her legs. The weather had grown fairly mild, and wearing a slightly lighter dress than before, she checked the clock once again.
Exactly 11:59:56 a.m. Only four seconds remained until noon, the promised time. Marianne clicked her tongue in irritation and tapped the parasol she had set beside her.
‘When the hell is she planning to come?’
The instant she thought that, the closed door flew open, and a blond girl walked in.
Soft eyes and beautiful amber pupils. Wearing a light shirt with an artist’s apron over it, both hands stained with blood, she stepped into the room with an expressionless face. Marianne stared at her and tilted her head slightly.
“You’re late.”
“It’s not twelve yet.”
The moment Irene said that, the clock spat out the alarm sound announcing noon. Irene shrugged and sat down across from Marianne.
“See? Now it’s the appointed time.”
“……Hah.”
“I hope you’ll also be considerate of my desire not to look at your face for long. If I came early and waited, I’d have no choice but to talk to you for longer.”
“Do you think I was waiting because I wanted to?”
“Who told you to come early?”
Irene answered calmly as she wiped her hands on her apron. The dried blood cracked with a sharp, brittle sound. Between the broken scabs of blood, her red-stained hands were revealed. Marianne heaved a deep sigh and crossed her legs.
“What’s with those hands this time? Did you kill someone on the way here?”
“I was making art. I met someone who inspired me for the first time in a while, so I made them pretty. They liked it too.”
“Enough of your bullshit. And how long do you intend to keep going around killing people indiscriminately? Are you planning to get caught by the Bureau and bawl your eyes out before we even find the Outer God’s grimoire?”
“You know it too. My magic is almost impossible to track. How are those things that aren’t even mages supposed to chase me? And besides, Walter said we should pursue an appropriate amount of slaughter too. I’m only following that order.”
“Since when did you ever listen to Walter so obediently?”
“Stop nitpicking. If you’re jealous of me, just say you’re jealous. Don’t keep getting annoyed.”
“Haa…… Forget it. As expected, talking to you doesn’t sit well with me. Enough, just get to the point.”
Marianne spoke while staring at Irene with a look of contempt. Irene calmly let her gaze slide off.
“Fine. I didn’t want to look at your face for long either. If not for Walter’s order, I wouldn’t have called you here in the first place.”
“I said I get it, so tell me what you want. Should I say it in Greek? Do you not understand French?”
“Walter forced us to cooperate. Originally, he told us to handle things on our own, but it seems the situation has changed a little.”
Irene leaned back against the backrest. Her slight upper body was completely swallowed by the sofa.
“You know Piolo, right? The Laplace executive who was staying in Britain.”
“If you mean the lunatic who always had sexual harassment on his lips, then yes, I know him. I remember he had a perverse tendency to seek out and kill only women and children.”
“That’s right. And he died yesterday.”
She recited it in a calm voice.
Marianne was not particularly surprised either. She had no special attachment to the executives of Laplace, so she did not care much who lived or died.
The only time Marianne would sincerely grieve over someone’s death would be if Ian died.
“Cause of death was bisection. His body was split into an upper and lower half. They say the one who killed him was the Tower Master of the Clock Tower.”
“……The Tower Master? That old man rotting in the back room?”
At this part, even Marianne had no choice but to be rather surprised.
The Tower Master of the Clock Tower. He was around his fifties, and the only mage officially known to handle two grimoires. At the same time, he was also a major figure often mentioned as a candidate for the strongest mage of the current era.
However, opinions were quite divided on whether he was actually strong.
It had already been twenty years since the Tower Master had actively run around in the field. Ever since inheriting the Clock Tower, he had focused solely on administrative work, and almost never showed himself in person.
Thanks to that, only people from the past knew the details of his abilities. Those who had only recently begun their activities could not help tilting their heads whenever discussing the Tower Master’s strength.
But Marianne had once watched from afar just how powerful a mage the Tower Master was.
The inherent power of his magic was not that impressive, but his ability to utilize it was the finest among mages of the modern era. A master of ritual magic who poured out spells without pause.
It was not for nothing that Walter was wary of him.
Piolo had known this as well, so unlike his flippant manner of speech, he tended to move rather carefully when active. However, judging by the fact that he had died, it seemed he had ultimately been caught by the tail. Though it was quite unexpected that the Tower Master had personally lifted his heavy ass and stood up.
“Britain is one of our main bases. Since that’s been discovered, he says we’ll be taking a break from work in Britain for a while. Instead, he told the executives elsewhere to quickly finish the missions they’re currently carrying out.”
Irene spoke. At some point, she was looking down at her hands, from which all the scabs of blood had disappeared, while lightly dusting off her apron.
“So that’s why you and I have been forced to cooperate. There’s no helping it, so play along appropriately.”
“……Isn’t that an order we can simply refuse? It seems neither you nor I want to cooperate.”
“If it were a mission with a choice, I would have refused too. But Walter even left word that we must obey this time, so I have no choice either. Cooperate appropriately.”
Irene spoke in a firm tone. Then, without even waiting for Marianne’s answer, she continued languidly.
“And perhaps because Walter thinks my current mission is the most important, he also sent one more reinforcement I didn’t want.”
“……Reinforcement?”
“Come in.”
Irene murmured. At that moment, the hotel room door opened once again, and a man with a genial impression walked in.
“Wow. Long time no see, Marianne! Have you been well?”
A Slavic man wearing a pure white suit and coat, with red hair stylishly arranged.
The only non-mage and psychic in Laplace.
Irene’s partner. A duplication-type ability user whose true worth was revealed most when used as a sacrifice.
“Ah, I’ve been doing well! I’m a baby who’s only in my third year since splitting, but I know everything there is to know! Until a few days ago, I was in Mexico eating as many tacos as I wanted!”
Darko Ivanov.
The man who was hated more fiercely than anyone by the mages of Laplace smiled brightly at Marianne.
“Ah, fuck.”
Marianne cursed without thinking. At the same time, she broke into a cold sweat inwardly.
‘Master, things have gotten a little troublesome for us……!’
*
“Wow, the weather is fucking great! Spring and autumn really are the easiest seasons to live in!”
At the entrance of Incheon Airport, a woman wearing a modified black nun’s habit laughed loudly and shouted as much. Beside her, an old priest clicked his tongue while fiddling with a pack of cigarettes.
“What kind of way is that for a nun to talk? Behave carefully. Modestly.”
“Bullshit. Where’s there a modest one among heresy inquisitors? Most of them are all insane.”
“Tsk! Watch your mouth! He is listening!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
The woman brushed off the man’s scolding and shoved her hands into her pockets.
“Enough of that, Senior. Has our destination been decided? Surely those great and noble cardinals didn’t dispatch us here just to tell us to act on our own.”
“Your manner of speaking…… Hoo, never mind.”
The priest sighed and started walking, dragging his carrier behind him. The nun followed after him.
“Of course we have a destination. We’ll be staying for the time being at a cathedral in Incheon.”
“Ugh! A cathedral again? I don’t want to go to Mass!”
“I don’t intend to attend regular Mass. But you’ll have to hold Mass separately on your own. You can do that much, can’t you?”
“Ah, that’s possible. I’ve always preferred doing things alone!”
The nun nodded energetically. Her orange hair, tied into twintails, swayed lightly. The priest clicked his tongue at the sight.
“Fine. Do as you please with that. For now, after we unpack at the cathedral, we plan to join up with Cecilia. Since we’ve taken on a mission related to the Outer God’s grimoire, we should exchange information with that child first.”
“Ah, come to think of it, Cecilia was in Korea too, wasn’t she? No wonder I didn’t see her!”
“Don’t harass her. You know Cecilia hates you, right?”
“Come on, Senior! That joke’s too much! Cecilia likes me so much! We’ve even slept hugging each other plenty of times!”
“…….”
The priest stared at her with cold, dead eyes, then turned toward the smoking area. Then, just before entering, he spoke in Italian.
“Remember. If the mage who possesses the Outer God’s grimoire is on friendly terms with Cecilia, there is no need to provoke that mage. We came here to help Cecilia with her mission, and at the same time—”
“To exterminate the vampires in Korea. And to respond to the ‘sudden disaster’ the prophets spoke of, right? I know too. Who do you take me for, a goldfish?”
“That’s because you usually do far too many things worse than a goldfish. As long as you know.”
The priest waved his hand and entered the smoking area. The nun stared blankly at his back for a moment, then sat on a nearby bench and looked up at the sky.
“……The Outer God’s grimoire, huh.”
She took off the veil she had been wearing and giggled.
“I’d like to have one hell of a spar with them. Would that be too much of a nuisance?”
+
It’s Sister ???!