Upon hearing Elisabeth's hypothesis, Kaito nodded. It was true that all the paladins they'd encountered had already been half-dead. The assembled manpower had been too half-assed to conduct any sort of proper purge. It seemed likely that the only ones left behind were those who'd had a poor affinity for demon meat and were on the verge of death. Even though they weren't as sure of it as Jeanne, the Church was probably looking for the Apostle, too... So it makes sense that they took the Butcher back to their headquarters with them. "You mean to say that Mr. Butcher has been captured? The Church is... Oh?" "What's wrong, Hina?" "My beloved Master Kaito, my dear Lady Elisabeth, what might that be?" Forgetting how worried she was, Hina sounded flabbergasted. Kaito and Elisabeth turned toward the direction she was pointing. Something had been placed in the room's blind spot, arranged so that the Gibbet would draw one's attention in its place. Upon seeing it, the two of them squinted in unison. "That's..." It had a preeminent presence to it, which made the fact that it had evaded their attention for so long even odder. Once they saw it the first time, though, it was thereafter impossible to ignore. Sitting on the floor was a massive slab of bone-in meat. It was so impressive, it practically deserved fanfare. "'Tis meat." "Yup, that's meat." "It's meat, isn't it?" Despite themselves, all three of them said the obvious. The paladins had sunken into madness, so it made sense that they'd overlooked it. But its very presence was such that Kaito and the others couldn't help commenting on it. The three of them cautiously approached the meat. The closer they looked, the odder its countenance seemed to be. Kaito and Elisabeth exchanged a glance, then started elbowing each other in the side. "Go on, then, Kaito. You're the one with the wife, so why don't you show her how manly you are, eh?" "Oh, no, no, I wouldn't dream of denying the opportunity to check it out to my world-famous master in action." "Allow me, then. As your intrepid maid, I shall go forth and investigate the meat! I'm off!" ""No, no, no, no, no, no, no."" Kaito and Elisabeth both reached out, determined not to foist the task off on Hina. By sheer coincidence, Elisabeth's fingers reached it quicker. She tutted at Kaito as she hoisted up the meat. Then something about the sensation of grabbing the bone gave her pause. "Hmm? 'Tis...loose? Perhaps... Rrrrrrrrrrr, rah!" "Yikes!" With a loud pop, Elisabeth yanked the bone free from the meat. When she did, something fell out from within and clinked against the ground. She picked it up and held it in front of her eyes. It was a slab of metal, twisted into an intricate shape. Even though it was covered in grease, it still sparkled. After pondering its design, Elisabeth tilted her head to the side. "Some kind of key, perhaps?" "Yeah, and there's something on the side, right? Lookâ€”there." Elisabeth turned the key over as Kaito had instructed. One of her eyebrows shot violently up. The words beloved dragon no. 2 were etched on its soiled metal surface. "That's..." "Familiar words, indeed." Kaito and the others began whispering among themselves. Whatever it was, it probably had something to do with the dragons the Butcher kept. And keys were, by nature, designed to open things. As he considered those facts, Kaito remembered something else as well. Oh yeah, Elisabeth knows where the Butcher lives. Elisabeth had sent Hina on an errand there once, and on another occasion had brought golems and ice spirits there as a gift. The Butcher had many clients, albeit most of whom he'd probably picked for their lack of knowledge regarding the Apostle. Of them, though, the number who knew where he lived was likely quite small. In fact, Elisabeth might well be the only one. Elisabeth tossed the key in the air. Before it could fall, she snatched it back up. "After we reconvene with Jeanne and the others, we're heading for the teleportation circle. We make for the Butcher's residence." "Got it." "Yes, ma'am." Kaito and Hina nodded. Without another word, Kaito began pondering. The Butcher had definitely left the key there on purpose. It was impossible to know whether his intentions had been benevolent or malicious. Even so, though, Kaito wanted to believe. Maybe this will let us change something. Kaito couldn't help but wish for it as he thought back on the Butcher and the pleased way in which he would tell his tall tales. The Butcher's residence was home to no small share of danger. Specifically, it was in the deep heart of a vast, dark, remote forest. Nobody dared harvest its rare herbs and ores, and the closest human settlement was on the other side of a mountain. Thanks to that, the forest had been able to avoid human exploitation. As a consequence, monsters and man-eating plants thrived within its confines. It had long since become a place where no human dared tread. However, everyone in their group had, in some sense, transcended humanity. Kreeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Kreeâ€” A strange noise erupted as a tangle of ivy made to take a bite out of Elisabeth's head, but she ripped it in two with her bare hands. Its death wail was a sound no plant should ever make. As she tossed the ivy aside, Elisabeth sighed. "Hmm, none of them poses much threat, but they do make it unpleasant to walk. 'Twould have been far more convenient if we could have but leaped there directly." "It's set up so that you can only teleport as far as the forest entrance. It was like that when I came here, as well." "Huh. I wonder if the Butcher set it up that way in preparation for when we all found out his secret." Kaito's voice was soft. "Nay, I suspect he merely wasn't thinking at all," groaned Elisabeth in reply. Beside them, Hina shouted, "Don't you dare get near them, you insolent lout!" at a poisonous moth as she bisected it down the middle. Leading the group was Deus Ex Machina, which had returned to being a steel titan and was currently trampling some howling plants underfoot. The chains on Jeanne's wrists jingled as she gracefully followed after it. Vlad gently drifted along behind. They all marched in silence, the only noises the gyaaahs and arrrghs of their would-be hunters. Eventually, though, they reached a clearing and stopped. A fancy hut towered before them. It was so impressive, it practically deserved fanfare. ".................................It's a mushroom." "It would appear to be a mushroom, yes." "Aye, and a toadstool, at that." "Hmm? Why, where is the meat? I must say, abandoning the sense of cohesion strikes me as a crime against aesthetics." Kaito was aghast, Hina merely nodded, Elisabeth was exasperated, and Vlad leveled a characteristically obtuse complaint. Erected before them was a completely round house. Its red roof was the very image of a mushroom's cap, and it was even mottled white. It was abundantly clear that the building was modeled after a mushroomâ€”more specifically, a toadstool. And at the bottom of the stalk was an adorable little round door. Kaito grabbed its handle and pulled. However, the door refused to budge. It must have been locked. Elisabeth prompted him to move aside, then raised one of her shapely legs into the air and let out a casual shout. "Hi-yah!" "Welp, there she goes!" Elisabeth had let loose a magnificently bold roundhouse kick. The door shattered. Inside, though, nothing seemed particularly amiss. While it was true that the massive chopping block, assorted knives, hand-operated saw, and miscellaneous hooks made the house seem a good deal more dangerous than the average merchant's, given the vast array of meats the Butcher dealt in, it all fell within reasonable expectations. Suspecting that the room had more to hide, Kaito and the others got to work searching it. Vlad alone stood motionless, still floating in the air. Kaito turned back to lodge a complaint. "Vlad, c'mon. I know you can't touch stuff, but you could at least try to help out." "I'm afraid I can't, my dear successor. I'm rather preoccupied, you see, trying to figure out why the area around these shelves is the only place free of dust." "...Huh." "I see. I guess the dead guy ain't a deadbeat after all." Vlad smiled, and Jeanne called Deus Ex Machina over. It moved the shelves aside with great ease. A secret door was installed beneath them. When they opened it, they discovered a staircase leading underground. Nerves on edge, the group descended. At the bottom, they discovered what had once been an underground lake now being used as a storehouse. A vast number of stone sheds were lined up atop the parched earth. Despite their master's absence, golems and ice spirits were diligently managing the meat within. There was nothing strange about that, either. And there certainly didn't appear to be anything related to the Saint in there. It feels like the nasty stuff we learned was all just a bad dream or something. As doubts started creeping through Kaito's mind, though, Hina started waving her hand about and shouting. "Master Kaitooo! There's another set of stairs leading up over here!" Apparently, she'd found a different set of stairs than the ones they'd come down on. But given that they hadn't found anything so far, the group's expectations as they ascended were low. Upon opening the wooden door at the top, they saw dim light flooding forth. Kaito popped his head out through the doorway. They were surrounded by trees. It was probably a backyard of some sort. "Hey, over there!" Then amid the dazzling light and vivid shades of green, Kaito spotted it. "Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! I'm gonna faaall!" "Don't worry, Master Kaito! I have your hand firmly in my grasp! Even if every gear in my body should stop, I will never let you go! Or would it be better if we simply traded places?" "Nope, that's a no-go! If we think about it rationally, I'm just as likely to fall from up there, so it works out better for both of us for you to keep supporting me like this, but that doesn't change the fact that it's scary as shiiiiiiiiit!" "Seeing you so scared is so heartrendingly cuuuuuuuuuuute!" A strange shout erupted from Hina. They'd been in so many nerve-racking situations recently, she must have finally snapped. As she swayed and squirmed, Kaito's legs were left practically floating in midair. Furthermore, the two thin black wings beside him were flapping fiercely through the air. Each time they did, Kaito had to expend mana to maintain his stamina and avoid getting sent flying. Below him, the forest spread out in every direction. The trees behind him vanished in a sea of green as they receded into the distance. Currently, Kaito and the others were riding atop a majestic red dragon. Upon leaving the Butcher's house behind them, they'd taken to the skies. It had all started a few hours prior. When they'd entered the Butcher's backyard, they'd been met by three dragons. The first was the steel dragon that had previously brought Hina to the Capital. The second had been a female with four wings and a long, slender crimson body. According to Jeanne, it was called a "red dragon." The moment they'd used their key to unlock her collar, she'd begun violently flapping her wings. They hadn't been afforded a moment of hesitation. Jeanne, who seemed to have expected this development, had elegantly mounted the dragon's saddle. Elisabeth followed after and reclined atop the dragon's back. And bringing up the rear had been Hina, who'd grabbed the startled Kaito by the arm and jumped on board last. Naturally, a red dragon's body was tapered at the rear. In other words, there was basically nowhere viable to sit near