The weight of its grudge had sullied the very air. Despite the bizarre situation he was in, though, Kaito himself was still fast asleep. However, when Elisabeth looked closer, she noticed that something was off about him. Hmm, she thought as she approached his bed. She peered at his face, and once she did, she realized exactly what was going on. Kaito's tongue was sticking out, and his body was convulsing. The corrupted air was giving him a nightmare. And it wasn't difficult to imagine what the nightmare was about. "...'Tis but natural one would make such a face, I suppose." Elisabeth shrugged. Kaito Sena's memories included the moment of his own death. His was a rare situation, to be sure. And in many ways, a decidedly unfortunate one. Elisabeth mused on that fact. 'Tis rather unpleasant, having a nightmare and being unable to wake up despite knowing it's a dream. As Kaito continued sleeping, his dream approached its climax. He began thrashing about, spraying drool and mucus every which way. He scratched at the air with his fingers, and tears rolled down his cheeks. Help, he mouthed to nobody in particular. Before long, his neck was going to snap. Elisabeth sighed. Then she raised her ravishingly shapely leg up high. "Taaaaaaaaaaaake that!" "Hurgh!" Her ax kick struck Kaito straight in the abdomen. The shock from the blow snapped him awake, and his limbs went stiff as he contorted in pain. He blinked a few times. It looked like he was wondering where he was and what he was doing there. At long last, though, he seemed to remember the grave reality of his situation. He gingerly glanced at Elisabeth. He started to say something, then clamped his mouth shut at the last moment. It was rare moment of prudence, coming from him. If he'd voiced so much as a single complaint, Elisabeth would have strung him up from the ceiling. Instead, he shifted his gaze over to the window. His eyes went wide when he saw the light streaming in through the shutters. Ah, so you've finally remembered your role and station, then? Dullard. "I see you're up early, Miss Elisabeth... No, yeah, I'm just up late." "Ah, so you're aware you've overslept, then, Kaito? 'Tis some nerve you have, indulging yourself in indolence beyond even that of your master." Elisabeth's smile was as malevolent as it was beautiful. Kaito's face went pale. And with that, Elisabeth Le Fanu greeted the morningâ€” â€”one of the next of a long series of unpleasant, bothersome days. Her demon-subjugation efforts took up most of her timeâ€”that was the pretext under which Elisabeth had summoned Kaito Sena. However, the truth of the matter differed greatly. On all the days without demon battles, she was actually bored beyond belief. Although she was giving the Church regular reports and sending out familiars in search of information, that was the sum total of her responsibilities. In truth, the actual reason she called forth a servant was merely because she despised doing chores. As such, summoning Kaito freed her from having to do any of them. In theory, it should have been a happy ending. In practice, though, this only compounded her boredom. There were many things her stone castle was good at, but helping its inhabitants kill time wasn't on that list. But even so, she was neither shameless enough nor stupid enough to venture outside it. After all, the Torture Princess was a sinner without peer. Like a prisoner, her food was the only pleasure afforded to her. And thanks to Kaito, even that's been ruined... Well, nothing for it. May as well take a nap. Elisabeth yawned and began making her way back to her bedroom. After she killed the fourteen demons, she herself was destined to be burned at the stake. Until then, she intended to fritter away as much of the idle interim as she could. Before she could reach her room, though, she stopped. She stared down the hallway, then crossed her arms in displeasure. "Hmm. So it's back." A trail of blood dotted the stone floor before her. It was vividly crimson, as though it had just been spilled. However, stepping in it didn't leave any footprints. The blood was nothing more than an illusion. Although it was visible, it was closer to a lingering thought than an actual object. Elisabeth sighed. What to do, what to do? "Urgh, dealing with this would be a headache and a half. Were I alone, I'd just as soon leave it be." Unfortunately, though, her castle was currently also home to Kaito Sena. He was in real danger of being snatched up by the owner of this blood. In fact, given this morning's events, he might well have been the reason that it appeared in the first place. "There you go again, making more trouble for your long-suffering master. See, this is precisely what makes you so foolish." Elisabeth cursed her servant's name as she set off. She knew full well what a master's duty was. Kaito was carrying out his end of the deal and working as her servant, and that meant it was her responsibility to protect him. The fact that his work was all sloppy and half-assed notwithstanding. Well, it isn't as if I've anything better to do. Perhaps this would make for a good way to kill time. Elisabeth began casually following the trail of blood. The farther she went, the more blood there was. Elisabeth even started finding chunks of flesh and scraps of string floating in some of the larger drops. Kaito's chores took him all over the castle, so he must have covered at least some of that ground before she did. Yet despite how gruesome a spectacle it was, he never came to report it to her. In all likelihood, that meant that he hadn't been able to see it. He may hail from another world, but it's my blood that sustains his existence. How is it that he could see the main body yet was blind to such prominent tracks? Just how empty is that head of his? It would appear that Kaito Sena lacked any sense of wariness or appreciation for danger. Growing increasingly exasperated, Elisabeth picked up the pace. Eventually, she reached the small garden at the castle's rear. She opened the aged door leading outside and headed down the moss-covered steps. A slight wind grazed her body. Underneath the clear blue sky, the situation in the garden was unfolding in exactly the way she'd anticipated. For a moment, a surprisingly serious thought passed through her mindâ€”perhaps it would be best to turn around and leave posthaste. Down in the garden, Kaito Sena was facing half of a ravaged corpse. It was making tears stream from its eyes, as though silently begging for help. However, Elisabeth knew that help wasn't what it was after. It had overcome such base rationality long ago. Now it existed solely to resent people. It craved nothing more than to share its pain with the living. 'Twas torn up, sewed together, then while it yet lived...killed. That kind of agony was enough to rob anyone of their humanity. Now the corpse had been reduced to a monster. However, Kaito didn't seem to notice the bottomless malice emanating from it. He regarded it without showing so much as an ounce of fear. Then he said something truly idiotic. "Don't worry, I'm coming." ...Perhaps it would be best if I were simply to leave him to his fate. Elisabeth gave the thought some serious consideration. In the end, it was close, but she did eventually change her mind. It was because Kaito's expression was simply far too kind. His sympathy and tolerance toward those suffering in pain were written all over his face. Without so much as hesitating, he approached the monster. It was an exceedingly foolish sight. Yet at the same time, so too was it pitiable. That was true of Kaito and the corpse alike. "Idiots, the lot of them." And so Elisabeth snapped her finger. A mass of iron stakes burst up from the ground in front of Kaito. Without a noise, they pierced the body clean through. Even though that was the second time Elisabeth had gotten in its way, the mercilessly skewered monster still didn't offer a single complaint as it vanished. Nothing remained of it. However, just repelling it over and over wasn't going to accomplish anything. 'Twill continue appearing, no doubt. What to do, what to do? ...Oh? All of a sudden, a certain item sprang to mind. An image of a clear glass ball flitted through her thoughts. She crossed her arms and began contemplating whether or not it would be useful. Before long, she reached her verdict. As it turned out, it might just do the trick. "Ah, such ingenuity! I've always had a faint inkling, but it would seem that I really am a genius. Oy, Kaito! Hmm?" Elisabeth narrowed her eyes. Perhaps due to the shock from her attack, Kaito was lying flopped over on his back. His eyes were even closed. For whatever reason, he was trying to fall asleep. It was utterly unclear as to why. At that rate, he was likely to misconstrue the stake attack as having been nothing more than a dream. Elisabeth had no objections there. It would save her having to explain what was going on. Instead, she bent her elbow and moved it into position. "Taaaaaaaaaaaake that!" "Hurgh!" With an absurdly carefree cry, she slammed her elbow straight into Kaito's gut. The shock from the blow immediately snapped his eyes open. He gingerly turned his gaze toward his belly. Elisabeth grinned at him with her arm still buried in his gut. After ten seconds or so of silence, Kaito finally spoke. "You know, I figured you'd go for another leg attack, but it's the arm this time, huh?" "Hmhm, know now that I am a master of every combat technique known toâ€” That's not important right now, Kaito! First you oversleep, then you see fit to take a siesta on top of that?!" "Huh, yeah, I guess I did." After having that fact pointed out, Kaito hurriedly rose to his feet. Elisabeth angrily arched her eyebrows, and the two of them exchanged some sharp repartee. Right as he was in the middle of reflecting on his own failings, though, his expression suddenly froze. "...Wait, huh? I was asleep, right?" Apparently, the whole situation was uncanny enough that even an idiot as simple as him could take notice. He glanced around, probably looking for the bloodstains. For a moment, his gaze lingered on the upturned patch of soil where the iron stakes had come out. Knowing that whatever annoying questions he'd come up with would only add to her workload, Elisabeth immediately called out to him. "Anyhow, if you have the time to be brazenly napping like that, then you must surely be bored to death. 'Tis fortunate for you, then, that I have the perfect job for those idle hands of yours. Come along now, and be chipper about it." "Okay, so I'll admit that I was napping, but that doesn't mean I'mâ€” OW!" "Oh, shut up! Just come!" She grabbed him by the earlobe and forcibly dragged him off. As she did, she shot a glance back. A graphic crimson pool was bubbling up on the ground. The moment she saw it, Elisabeth coldly averted her gaze and began hurrying on forward. It was almost as though she was trying to deny there had been anything there at all. A long time ago, Elisabeth installed a magical device in one of the rooms down in the castle's dimly lit underground hallways. The device was designed to release people from nightmares. However, its actual effectiveness was suspect at best. On top of that, testing it required at least two people, so as a result, Elisabeth had gone without ever trying