Bearer of The Soul Index

One thing I felt I had to apologize for right away—that it didn’t happen sooner.

I was sorry that I hadn’t spoken to Lupa with Voice Access before, to understand and embrace her thoughts.

Even though I hadn’t met her outside this room today, this wasn’t supposed to be the first time I spoke to her.

That’s why I had to speak to her more urgently. I didn’t have minutes to be slow, and she didn’t seem to hear me.

Time was pressing, the Judge Supreme was quieting the other court-members around him so that he himself could finally give Rumel the sentence after asking the Areopagus.

“Lupa, I know you can hear me.”

Her breathing quickened as she looked sideways at Rumel, but tried to keep her composure, knowing the guards were watching. I was surprised they hadn’t yet noticed Lupa struggling unlike the calm delegates of the Senate on the balconies.

It was so bad that I had to hurry and be slow at the same time. All I could manage was a bit of calm and kindness in my voice, and it was hard.

“Lupa, I saw you looking just now. All I’ve heard in this room so far is laughs and bickering from people who don’t care about anyone’s life more than their own. But you…”

Her pupils dilated a little, she looked around at her companions, then lowered her head slightly so no one would see her expression.

“You know Rumel was brought here as a scapegoat. A barmaid does not start a war with murder and letters…”

I bent lower to glimpse her face, choosing my next words wisely as lives depended on it. I even leaned closer to the screen, as if I was really there.

“If you can hear me, I beg you to somehow give me a sign! Anything would do!”

She warily lifted her head back slowly and looked out from under her eyebrows into nothingness.

Straight at me.

Yes, she hears me now!

“Thank you… I’m your friend, Lupa, who shares your feelings. Honestly. Things are hard for you, just like for her.”

“I… want to help.”

She said it softly, but was clearly holding back a scream. She really had enough of seeing this mess just as I had, and she had all she needed to act.

Only she probably didn’t know how to do it alone.

Fortunately, she wasn’t alone now.

“No worries then. You’ll be more than able to help.”

“How?” she asked hurriedly. “What should I do? What can I do?”

“You just have to wait. A friend and I will set up the perfect chance for you to get Rumel out of here. Do you trust that we can help?”

She closed her eyes to think, and when she opened them, I saw courage and determination instead of fear.

“I do.”

I heard a metal clang and realized she was ready to draw her sword. Her hand was no longer shaking, but gripping the hilt with steady resolve.

Finally, things are coming together.

I quickly glanced back toward the judges at the other end of the room, only to catch the verdict of the Areopagus.

One by one, those sitting below the judges bowed their heads and pronounced sentence upon the desperate cat-girl.

“Guilty.”

“Unforgivable.”

“Guilty on all counts.”

The Judge Supreme’s face didn’t change from its coldness, but I knew the people on the balconies were smiling in satisfaction.

«The knights’ commander is helping us get Rumel out! Use the jewel!»

Both Rumel and Lupa’s eyes were then fixed on the Judge Supreme, who was about to pronounce the sentence.

Not that it mattered anymore.

“Our court, then, hereby gives Rumel Da Rue to the highest level of punishment for her crimes against the Empire! I, in the name of our Gods, hereby sentence you to death! Take her head!”

Oh, no, I don't think so...

Right then, Mineruva confirmed.

«With great pleasure»

◆ ◆ ◆

What followed was difficult to put into words.

For one thing, things happened so fast in the next five minutes even I hadn’t imagined it.

And secondly, because I hadn’t yet seen Mineruva’s newfound ability, and she hadn’t said much about it, saving it for the grand finale.

And for sure it wasn’t just spectacular. It was chaotic in the best possible sense of the word.

I’d just digested the court’s decision. The man’s words hung in the air like heavy weights, waiting to fall at last.

In the next second, Rumel looked sideways at the silver-haired knight, who raised his blade to strike her, his eyes glinting with a sneer. Meanwhile, the other knight quickly grabbed her hand to keep her from running away.

She quickly turned away, bracing for it.

But there was no slash.

And not only that. There were voices of confusion from the upper floor, and even the judges began to whisper.

The lights went out in the room, and darkness fell.

Then a faint, flute-like ambient sound echoed out as a jade-green light began to glow in the dark—a candle in the gloom—and the whole room was bathed in a ghostly light.

Suddenly all noise died away, and we could then hear the noises outside the courtroom, and it wasn’t pleasant either.

Muffled cries and calls for help, the sound of footsteps and swords.

Something frightening was happening just outside the door, and nobody here had any idea what it was, including me.

As the ominous music played, a familiar voice spoke up. Her words resounded around everyone, striking fear.

The words of a true goddess.

“Gather, old spirits of Mido! The bearer of the Soul Index is calling you!”

Mineruva was about to mop the floor with everyone and I was cheering her on.

At her words, the flute surged louder, as if this place was a concert hall.

Monstrous shapes emerged from the green light.

No—they straight-up jumped out like that Hellcat!

About ten of them came out at once, and started leaping toward the pedestals and upstairs.

Everyone started screaming in that second, but not me.

I burst out laughing without a care in the world.

“Oh god, did she seriously summon a bunch of freaking Tanukis?!”

This was awesome!

The summoned monsters were semi-transparent giant Tanukis, glowing eerie green. Much more robust than their real counterparts, even larger than a human. They looked like a cross between a fat wolf and a raccoon.

Could these have been Mido’s ghosts for real?

I want to pet one!

In less than a minute, the Tanukis were wreaking havoc. Everyone in sight fled to a safe distance, but the spirits kept cutting in front of them. They didn’t need to run, as they could reach anyone in seconds.

“GRRRRHH...”

They made it to the top of the stairs, where the Consuls leaned against the railings and barely moved in fear, squealing to each other.

“RAAAH!”

The Tanukis growled at everyone, gritting their teeth, but didn’t attack. In our plan, they were just for intimidation and distraction.

I couldn’t see all of it happening exactly, so there were a few moments where I wasn’t sure of things. Like I didn’t know when exactly did everyone realize the Tanukis couldn’t physically hurt them.

But I didn’t need to know or see.

Now, my task was to stay with Lupa.

As the Tanukis emerged, the knight-girl drew her sword with a metallic slash and disarmed the knight, who was about to strike Rumel, but was startled by the sight of the monsters.

It was too late for the man to defend himself as Lupa kicked the sword out of his hand and pushed him away with her own.

“Traitor!”

The other red-haired one, with a terrified look on his face, then tried to pull Rumel toward him, but he was no match for her. Lupa on one side and one of the Tanuki on the other stood in his way.

Rumel didn’t dare to move, but the knight flashed his sword at the monster until Lupa clubbed him across the back of the head.

Ah, that's what I love! Finally, fair gameplay, I’ve been waiting for this for ages!

Rumel was no longer restrained, nor had her hands tied. She looked at Lupa, who quickly stepped up to her and took her by the shoulder.

“Come with me, I’ll get you out of here!”

I didn’t even need to interrupt, she nodded and let Lupa lead her away from the chaos and toward the doors.

Had the guards and knights not been frightened, they would’ve stopped the two girls, but they got there in no time without problems.

To their surprise as they opened the entrance, ten more Tanukis burst through, joining those inside. They passed by Lupa and Rumel as if they hadn’t been there at all.

The girls ran out straight into the great hall and then to the stairs. They didn’t have time to look around, but I could see what a good job Mineruva’s spirits were doing.

In the distance, terrified knights swung their weapons at the see-through creatures, but they kept dodging and biting at the humans, not actually hurting them, but still looking frightening.

Now Rumel ran fearlessly alongside Lupa, holding her hand tightly, not caring about anything except not letting go.

“A-Are you their friend?” Rumel asked.

Lupa didn’t stop as she heard the question. They were coming down the long stairwell, with me hovering not far above them.

“What? Who?”

“The voice! You heard him too, didn’t you?”

Geez, I guess I really was that loud. Voice Access was working so much better than I thought it would.

Lupa almost jumped as she looked at Rumel for a moment as they walked down. I could feel the surprise in the way she looked back at her.

“You heard that too?”

Rumel then looked up to the ceiling as she followed her.

“Michio-kun?! Are you around?!”

Lupa was about to motion for silence, lest someone hear them.

“Please be quiet a little! Wh—”

“I’m still here.”

They both heard me. Rumel had a huge grin on her face, eyes sparkling with joy. Lupa looked less sure, but smile shyly.

Somehow, after the events of the past few hours, it felt damn good to see that both girls were safe.

“So, it's you. What are you, exactly?” Lupa asked.

“A human, like you. However, I move in circles who have some... abilities.”

“You're not a Demon, right?”

That surprised me a little. If she was going to think I use magic right off the bat, it would be logical to call me a deity, not something straight out of Hell.

What exactly does Demon mean in this world, anyway?

I kind of remembered that during the Senate meeting yesterday, High Consul Vash said something like ‘don't let the Demons influence you’ or whatever. So after all it wasn’t that much of a compliment.

I didn’t blame her for asking, though. She wanted answers, just like I did when I stumbled into Leclaire, but now I was sort of at the other end of the line, like how Mineruva was to me.

“Ugh.. no? I mean, would a Demon use their powers for good?”

Rumel kindly gave a little shove to Lupa.

“Doesn’t seem like a Demon to me! Honestly, I don’t really care if he is. He helped us.”

"We helped, actually. Mineruva, a friend of mine, was doing the majority, as my magic prevents me from being visible. She’s waiting outside for us."

“Mineruva?” the two asked almost at the same time, almost reaching the ground floor.

“A nice girl in fancy white clothes. You’ll recognize her. She’ll get us far away from here.”

“Right,” Lupa said, her breathing growing heavier with worry. “I’m afraid of what will happen if they’ll come after us.”

“Simple. They won't,” we reached the ground floor and headed down the corridors, past the gardens and cloisters.

It wasn’t long before we reached the entrance.

In the torch-lit foyer, from which several large staircases and corridors led off, a couple o guards were stationed. They didn’t seem as terrified as the ones upstairs, probably because the Tanukis only teleported to places close to us.

Lupa almost rounded a corner straight for the foyer, before quickly turning back and flattening herself against the wall. We had to pass them.

“I have to lie to get us out. When we get there, don’t say a word, okay?”

Rumel bared her teeth in agreement.

A moment later they got out of hiding, going for the big entrance in front of them, with the outside world shrouded in sunset.

The guards noticed their footsteps and straightened.

“Greetings, Commande—”

“Pardon me, but we have no time, the Imperial Court is under attack! The culprit has been sentenced to exile by the Judge just then. Consul Magne has entrusted me with taking her outside the capital immediately.”

For someone who probably wasn’t used to lying, she did it incredibly well.

The guards looked them over.

“Is she the said culprit?”

Lupa swallowed hard, then continued in a slightly less serious but deep, commanding tone.

"Well, yes. Did you not hear? Three murders, inciting a war? She’s lucky that some of the evidence was false and the Judge changed the sentence.”

As the knights measured her, Rumel pulled out the fiercest look she could muster. She narrowed her cat-eyes until her pupils were just slits, and pulled out her claws and teeth, hissing.

“Uhm, right,” without question, the guards opened the door for them, and the two girls headed for the stables as fast as they could.

There, in a second, they saddled up Lupa’s white steed, and galloped out through the open main gate, heading straight for the bridge that led to Tessal.

◆ ◆ ◆

I was more than happy to join them, as nothing stood in our way now.

I could almost feel the breeze of the approaching evening as they galloped for minutes over the long and wide paved bridge.

“I’ve never seen a sunset so beautiful,” Lupa remarked as she gazed out over the city’s buildings, towers, and distant mountains, admiring the light.

“I always see it!” Rumel laughed. “This is the time I usually go home to Ente & Ovia. Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Very much so.”

They were right. This was only my second day in Leclaire, so I’d only seen this sight once before, but I felt I wanted to see it hundreds of times more.

Just now, it was as if all our worries had disappeared as we rode into the open streets.

The neighborhoods near the Capitol weren’t too busy at this time of day. The open spaces felt untouched, as if no one had ever walked them, echoing with the thump of the white steed’s hooves.

I had to look around for our only missing member now.

“Slow down a bit, okay? She should be just around the corner.”

Lupa did so, and they went at a slightly lower pace. I soared above them and looked around the rooftops.

We didn’t have to wait long.

Mineruva came rocketing toward us from the direction of the castle walls, a grin of delight on her face.

She was enjoying the action, surely she hadn’t had any fun adventures like this in a long time. I was glad I could give her that feeling.

We both landed in front of the girls, but of course they could only see her.

“Well, our distraction must’ve worked out the best way possible.”

“You bet!” I replied, excited like I was a kid again. “That was awesome!”

The two girls got off the horse. Lupa felt kind of odd, as she was taller and older out of the three girls. She made no secret of her surprise at seeing a young girl soaring like a bird.

“You must be Mineruva!” Rumel exclaimed in delight before Lupa could speak.

“Correct. And you two must be Rumel and Lupa, the ones Michio-sama talked so much about.”

The cat-girl raised a surprised but curious brow.

“Wait, ‘talked’?”

“Yeah, uh, I’ve been with you guys for a little while, looking after you when I could…”

Mineruva quickly corrected me.

“Like an invisible protector.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Cool!” Rumel said.

Lupa finally found the moment to interject.

“Sorry, let’s slow down a bit... Are you the same as Michio-kun? I mean, a magic user? I’d be surprised if you were, at such a young age.”

Mineruva’s eyes lit up.

“Oh, I certainly am! I know many cool things, including what you just saw!”

Lupa raised her eyebrows and though she wanted to say something, only an amazed ‘aaah…’ came out.

Well, she said she’d be surprised.

“I think it’s cool!”

“Thank you, Rumel,” she then looked at me. “Michio-sama, before I take you all to safety, were there any complications? Someone who noticed you, followed you or found out about the illusion?”

I didn’t need long to think it over. If we got out so easily, it meant there was no resistance, as everyone was busy avoiding the Tanukis.

But I was worried about what the Senate, Magne and everyone else might’ve figured out of all this—about Rumel’s disappearance, about Lupa and the monsters.

“I’ve had a look around on our way out, but I didn’t see anyone noticing us except the two knights Lupa knocked out. Heck, she talked us right through the exit with a pretty good lie. I don’t think that—”

Mineruva turned her eyes away from me. The two girls couldn’t see it, but she’d just received an Events notification in the menu.

Opening it, she read the message, then stared at it as if she couldn’t believe it.

Whatever it was, it terrified her down to the core.

What could possibly scare her this much?

“Mineruva? What’s wrong?” I asked.

She then closed the menu and looked hurriedly over us.

“That Birdman—he’s nearby, heading right our way. He’s about a minute or two away.”

I heard three chimes from the System’s menu.

«Urgent: Danger is near»

«Urgent: Rumel is in danger»

«Urgent: Lupa is in danger»

No, that can’t be! Not right now! What could he possibly want?

“T-The one who stole from me? And killed with my medicine?”

Lupa went dead silent. She looked at Rumel, then realization struck.

“What you said in court... the murderer stole from you!”

“Just as I told them! But did they believe me?!”

Rumel took it a little resentfully, finally someone acknowledging her side of the story too.

“Listen!” Mineruva beckoned them. “This guy’s dangerous. He uses dark magic and he’s fast. I don't know what he wants, but I must send you to safety!”

Before anyone could have a word, she raised her hand to teleport us away, as she had done to me yesterday. The others looked worriedly at each other, waiting for a chance to get away from prying eyes.

It took me barely a second, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something just before she activated her ability.

In the nearest alleyway, a man in a green cloak and mask was looking at us , raising his hand above his head, dark energy swirling in it.

He was about to throw it at us.

“Mineruva!!!”