PHASE 73 - I'LL NEVER EAT SHAWARMA AGAIN

When morning came, Jecchan immediately received a call from the Black Cross Legion. Her panicked actions woke me and Rikkun afterward, telling me that we should skip our classes for this day and board a bus to Myrrh City. There seemed to be an emergency, so it’s only natural for Jecchan to act like that.

However, the yells she had early in the morning made us hurry to the bones. Rikkun forgot to shower, and I forgot to brush my teeth. The result is that we half-heartedly went to the bus terminal while still having our brains asleep.

When we are already on the bus, Jecchan finally managed to calm down. There’s nothing to do instead of sitting anyway, so we have this chance to clear some things out.

“Jeanne, what’s the matter? What’s with the hurry about this crap?” Rikkun protested, and then he followed by a long yawn.

“The Black Cross Mansion has been infiltrated last night. Sister Cryst told me to come for some briefing.” Jecchan said.

“Oh, so you’re the only one who’s being summoned,” Rikkun said. “You should have left us out of it.”

“It concerns Benedict Hamerov…” Jecchan pierced Rikkun with a cold glare. “...and Tiara’s step-sisters.”

“Eh?” My eyes went wide open. “Y-You mean Sis Alice and Sis Bella? What happened to them?”

“We’ll know more once we get there.”

<>

After an hour, we finally reached the Black Cross Mansion. Contrary to most of the time, the garden at the front of this mansion is not filled with colorful flowers, but red blood. There are blood marks everywhere.

What’s more terrifying than blood marks is more blood marks. The floor is filled with dried blood and the stench is horrible. It smells like rotten flesh in here, and I’d go insane if stay here for an hour.

Police and Gate Guardians are investigating these blood marks. They are all so busy so we did not bother them to the slightest. We just hurried in walking to reach the office of the Legionmaster.

I have a really bad feeling about this.

The blood trails stopped the moment we reached the giant door of the mansion. From there onwards, the blood trails are no longer existent. It’s the very same clean and tidy mansion we always visit whenever we are summoned in here.

The pathway all through the main office is also clean. There are only more policemen and investigators in the area, and some are checking out the CCTV cameras.

“Aether Crusade at your service, your holiness.” Jecchan bowed as soon as we met the Legionmaster of the Black Cross, Sister Amanda Cryst. Rikkun and I also bowed in his presence.

“I’m sorry, Miss Noctis. I had to summon you at the very start of the sunrise. There are some things we want you to know.” The nun’s voice is as calming as ever. She turned to me with a sorrowful glare. “There are also some things that the shrine maiden should know.”

“I’ve heard the news, your holiness,” Jecchan said. “Our prisoner, Benedict Hamerov is dead. The same is true with Tiara’s step-sisters Alice and Bella Solstice.”

The nun immediately pulled out a folder from her desk and opened it for us to read. It is a record of pictures which indicates the Black Cross Underground Prison that has been used to detain Cursed Guardians is now a prison for dead bodies. Most of the prisoners had their body in decomposition, and some are mummified.

The pictures gave out the name of the Cursed Guardians we didn’t even know. We scanned through it and finally saw a picture that has the name of Benedict Hamerov. On the picture is just a gross pile of black meat.

“I-It’s horrible!” I covered my mouth as I stood in shock.

“Damn, what a savage. So Benedict turned into shawarma.” Rikkun said. Because of this sentence, I won’t eat shawarma for the next days.

“All of the prisoners staying before Benedict’s cell are dead. Benedict is also the only one who had this ‘unique’ kind of death, so it seems that Benedict is the main purpose of the assailant.” Sister Cryst said.

“Y-Your holiness!” I held my chest as I mustered my courage. “W-What about my step-sisters!? How are they?”

Sister Cryst frowned as she looked at me. “I’m sorry, Miss Hikari. They suffered the same fate as the prisoners and the Gate Guardians who are on guard duty last night. I would prefer not to give you the pictures, but you can visit their bodies right now at the morgue if your stomach can take it.”

I gasped for air. The shock of learning that my step-sisters made me astounded and sad. I may not have good memories with them, but I can’t stand hearing a relative die.

“W-Who did this?” I clenched my hand.

“I’m so sorry.” The sister said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t got any lead on the suspect. The investigators have checked the surveillance cameras, and they can’t see anything but glitchy blurs. It’s like the person or thing that did this can conceal its appearance. No eyewitnesses survived.”

“Your holiness.” Jecchan made a firm glare at the Legionmaster. “Requesting permission to put this case on our portfolio. It involves a lot of personal things for us. Benedict is our prisoner, and the victims are Tiara’s relatives. We feel responsible for what happened.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Noctis. This case is already assigned to a minor investigation team.” Sister Cryst said. “The Blazing Heart Legion has the exclusive jurisdiction over this case.”

“E-Eeeeeeeeeeeeeh!?” Rikkun and Jecchan blurted out. Surprised, they could not accept the fact that they will not take the case. I also wanted to join them with their Eeeeeeh!? expression but I’m kind of late to react.

“Yes.” Sister Cryst rested her chin on her clasped hands. “The greatest minor legion in this country, the Blazing Heart Legion which is lead by Erylle Fontaine.”

<>

After the briefing in the main office, we went downstairs to go to the underground prison. While walking, we three started to talk to each other.

“I can’t believe Erylle is a Legionmaster in this timeline,” Rikkun muttered. “Blazing Heart Legion does not exist on the previous timeline, right?”

“Y-Yes.” I nodded to affirm Rikkun’s doubt. “B-But I’ve heard of that legion several times on the earlier timelines. I’ve never seen them in person though.”

“Really?” Jecchan squinted her eyes towards us two. “Blazing Heart Legion is quite popular in my universe. I don’t know if your Amy has the very same thing, but the Erylle Fontaine in my world is my cousin.”

“I wonder if she’s the past Frozen Soul…” I whispered to myself. "Ah, or maybe it's just another version of Erylle Fontaine that is different from the Outsider we know."

When we finally made it to the prison area, we finally saw the blood trail again. The stench is still as awful as ever, but there are already people who are in charge of cleaning it. There are also people who are carrying body bags that should contain cadavers.

It is at this moment when I finally remembered this place. You all know that I’m an idiot so it took a lot of time for me to realize this simple thing.

This event looks a lot like the aftermath of my dream. The shadow. The killing of my step-sisters. The killing of Benedict Hamerov. The events of that crimson mooned dark night. It all happened in reality.

Chills went down on my spine, and my knees trembled. I can never forget the face that the dead people made. I can never forget the brutal thing that happened that night.

“Rikkun…” I pinched my lover’s sleeve. “I… I have to tell you something.”

“What is it?” Rikkun asked.

“I… I saw the night. I saw what happened last night. I saw… the shadow.”

Rikkun just froze in place. It’s not because he was surprised about my revelation, but because he is not paying attention at all. His eyes gaze beyond my left shoulder, and his irises are round and wide. He looked like a child who just saw a gift beneath the Christmas tree.

Suddenly, his lips moved, shouting an all-familiar name.

“Heushac!”