CHAPTER 4
Undead Parade
1
“Sheesh, I was just trying to give her advice on security. No need to get so angry.”
“I honestly think you should be glad she didn’t press charges because you weren’t caught in the act…”
I guess Ten’s gonna be locked up for a while longer. Right when we need all hands on deck for base construction, too.
As a result, we’ve decided to delay the construction of the hideout until he gets released.
With nothing to do, Alice and I are wandering around the city of Grace and looking for opportunities to earn Evil Points.
“So I guess that’s how you were earning the points to order the construction materials and equipment. Hey, Six, sneak into the king’s room next.”
“No way; why would I want to sneak into some old man’s room? The fun is in sneaking in and doing stuff next to a defenseless beautiful maiden without waking her. But rest assured, the unwritten rule was to avoid laying a finger on Tillis.”
“What is it with you and your unwritten rules? If you’re going to go through all the trouble, at least have the balls to make a move on her.”
I wish someone who looks like a pretty young girl wouldn’t say stuff like that.
“Anyway, Six, why don’t we set fire to those wandering dolls?”
“Given how normal you are, you really do lose your head when the supernatural gets involved.”
There’s a good reason Alice is making such dangerous suggestions.
After all that preparation, the Undead Festival is finally underway, and tons of stuffed animals are wandering around every part of the city.
Given her utter refusal to believe in fantasy worlds, the situation’s gotta be unbearable for her.
“I eventually plan to expose the scam behind Grimm’s curses as well. They’re all just some sort of hypnosis.”
“Don’t say that to Grimm; you’ll just start another fight.”
At that moment, we catch sight of something in front of us.
“…Hey, Six. Isn’t that Grimm?”
Yes, speaking of the devil, there’s Grimm in the middle of a gathering of people.
“Lady Grimm, what is my brother saying? Um, is my brother really in here…?”
A shy-looking young woman pleads to Grimm tearfully.
She looks to be about fourteen or fifteen years old.
Grimm smiles warmly at her, then gently presses the doll next to her.
“I’m not certain if he is your brother, but his name is Larius. He says, ‘I’m home. I’m glad you achieved your dream without me. I’m so proud of you. I was so worried you wouldn’t be able to get by on your own, but I’m reassured to see you doing so well.’”
“Larius!”
Overcome with emotion, the girl hugs the stuffed animal.
“I—I worked so hard! Even after Mom, Dad, and then you died… I kept at it all by myself!”
The stuffed animal gently wraps its arms around the girl.
“He says, ‘It must have been so hard for you. I’m so proud of you, Mariel. I’m so very proud of you, Little Sister.’”
“Bwaaaaaah!” The girl called Mariel bursts into tears, clinging to the stuffed animal.
The people watching the exchange also have tears in their eyes.
I find myself pleasantly surprised to see this new side of Grimm.
“‘When my shy and fragile sister Mariel said she wanted to become a brawler and hold both gold and glory in the palms of her hands, I wanted to stop you. I thought you’d taken leave of your senses… But I’m happy to admit I was wrong. You’ve worked so hard to get where you are.’”
“Yup! Um, um…! I haven’t lost a single match yet, and my fans even call me ‘Bloody Mary’! And now, the champion, Reidog, keeps finding excuses to avoid fighting me…”
…
Wait, is this really a heartwarming story?
I mean, the crowd is nodding along tearfully, but I’m not sure her brother was wrong to stop her.
“Hey, Larius, what happened to Mom and Dad?”
“‘Oh, those two were reincarnated a while ago. They were fighting till the end, declaring to the other they were going to find a better partner and avoid a shotgun wedding in the next life.’”
“Oh, Mom and Dad… Heh, how funny… Still fighting even after death, heh-heh…,” Mariel chuckles softly.
Nope, that’s not the least bit heartwarming.
C’mon, guys; stop laughing along and point that out.
“Now go on home and enjoy the rest of the festival. He should be able to communicate through writing, though it might be a little hard to read since he’ll be writing with a doll’s hand.”
“Thank you very much, Lady Grimm! Let’s go home, Larius! When we get home, I’ll show you my Skull Crusher, the move that earned me the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’!” Mariel smiles and takes the doll by the hand, and the two walk off, arm in arm.
“Lady Grimm, me next! Please, me next!”
“I’m certain my husband is in here! Lady Grimm, please tell me what my husband says!”
After Mariel leaves, the members of the crowd begin pleading for Grimm’s attention.
“Please, all of you, calm down. We’ll go in order… Also, you there. Your husband is no longer here. He’s already been reincarnated, but he said something about marrying a young, cute bride in his next— Ow! H-hey, stop that!” Grimm cries out as the doll starts hitting her in the middle of her story. “Sorry, sorry, I was only kidding! But can I just point out that it’s completely unfair for you to flirt with your wife through me?!”
Makes me think it’d be better not to let her run this festival, but I guess since she’s the only one who can talk to the spirits, there’s not much of an alternative.
We turn away from the sight of Grimm interpreting between the spirits and their bereaved families, resuming our wandering around the festival.
“That was a rare sight, to see her acting all priestly. Pretty impressive, talking to the dead.”
As we wander around the city, I think back on how different my impression of Grimm was tonight.
“Try not to buy into her bullshit, would you, Six? There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for what we saw earlier. That Mariel, or whatever her name was, was a plant. She and Grimm must have planned it beforehand and put on an act.”
“You really hate fantasy, don’t you?”
I have trouble believing that girl’s tearful expression was just an act.
I look over the stuffed animals as they walk past.
“It’s certainly a cutesy little scene. Grimm’s supposedly the one who made all those dolls wandering around. She’s got a pretty domestic streak, it seems.”
Well, considering how badly she wants to get married, it shouldn’t be all that surprising.
Walking next to me, Alice eyes the dolls as well. “Our Meat the Ripper is cuter.”
“You and Rose have weird taste.”
I take another look around the city. “So, Alice, this is what passes for a festival on this planet, I guess. What do you think?”
“No drama, no shady con artists. This planet’s festivals are rather orderly, aren’t they?”
For an evil organization like Kisaragi, festivals are how we got our start, and they remain an important part of our heritage.
Back when we were still small and weak, we’d put up unauthorized stalls whenever there was a festival to earn money.
Of course, that would lead to skirmishes with the local organizations, which we’d use to secure a foothold and…
“This really takes me back… I remember when I’d sell fake copies of rare cards from that super-popular trading card game to the kids…”
“Ripping off kids. Yikes.”
Still…
“Anyway, as Kisaragi operatives, we can’t just stand by and watch such a lame festival. Festivals mean fighting and scams. Hey, Alice, let’s go show the locals what a real festival looks like.”
Alice looks at me and tilts her head.
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