behind her sword swing. The moment Alice landed, Elisabeth had dashed up the stairs and tried to lop her head off. But Alice had caught the deadly blow with one hand. And after the Pendulum made its way back after bouncing off the egg, she blocked it in the same manner as well. At the moment, Alice was perched on her tiptoes and grabbing a blade in each hand. Amusingly, her entire body was trembling. Less amusing, however, was the complete lack of openings in her defense. Her technique defied all reason. "Hmph." Elisabeth let go of Executioner's Sword of Frankenthal, then kicked off the edge of its handle and somersaulted backward through the air. After landing halfway down the stairs, she leaped back once more and returned to her original position. Alice continued smiling. She made no efforts to pursue. Elisabeth thought back to the girl's introduction. Fremd Torturchen, eh. Apparently, that had been more than just a sick joke. That was what made it all so nightmarish. Now then... What to do...? Elisabeth shot a glance behind her. Lute and the rest of his men were frozen in shock. They were doubtless still trying to process the combination of the grisly spectacle, the imperial princesses' deaths, and the man's speech. After making sure Alice wasn't readying a follow-up attack, Elisabeth snapped her fingers. Her sword, which Alice was still clutching in her hand, burst back into flower petals. Suddenly, Alice stuffed them into her mouth. She licked her lips, spreading blood all over them. It was like looking at a cat who'd just eaten a mouse. "Mmm, it's sweet! It tastes like dessert. Yeah, like cookies and candy! Sugar is so expensive in this world, though... Say, what kind of dessert do you like best, Elisabeth?" "What are you people aiming to achieve?" Alice seemed to be babbling, so Elisabeth ignored her and directed her question at the man. She'd noticed something out of place during their exchange of blows. Compared with the demon contractors she'd fought in the past, there was something decidedly unnatural about the man. It wasn't that he looked like a good person, per se. It was that he looked downright absurd. He seems oddly calm, yet that alone is nary the half of it. The look in his eyes is one I've not often seen. The man's eyes were cold and hollow. It was like someone had drained all the emotion from them. He wasn't relishing his current situation, and none of the death and pain he'd caused seemed to delight or excite him in the slightest. Given the grisly spectacle he'd created, that fact was peculiar in the extreme. The man offered no answer. Elisabeth pressed on. "You realized that 'by summoning from another world a soul that's accustomed to pain, placing it in an immortal body, making it form a contract with a demon, and giving it the heart of an individual who's ingested demon flesh and accumulated a massive amount of pain, it's possible to artificially create an entity capable of revolutionizing the world.' So, what, your aim is revolution, then?" "What an odd question. In fact, I don't understand why you would ask something like that. Why would I go to such pains to create a revolutionary, if not to start a revolution?" The man raised an eyebrow. Nearly landing on a bed of pins hadn't so much as fazed him, but the stupid question seemed to have rubbed him the wrong way. Elisabeth nodded. There was a logic to that. Yet due to the peculiarity of the man's demeanor, she had to ask. As far as she could tell, he had nothing in the way of passion or avarice. Whatever drove him, it almost certainly wasn't ambition or lust for power. Frankly, 'tis ludicrous for a man such as him to speak of revolution. Scorn filled her thoughts as she began laying out her endless list of questions. The man's goal was to "revolutionize the world." However, it was unclear what specifically that entailed. Furthermore, he seemed utterly devoid of passion, making it unclear what had driven him to assassinate the imperial princesses. And also, it was a mystery why he hadn't long since fled the scene. Hoping to get some light shed on those points, Elisabeth opened her mouth to speak. The moment she did, though, a low voice sounded from behind her. "...And that's why you cut those two down?" "Lute, it gladdens me that you've finally joined us. But for now, calm yourself. The situation calls for discretion." "You killed our noble princesses for the sake of some flimsy, fleeting whim?!" Lute bellowed, his rage flaring up like an inferno. Elisabeth, still facing forward, extended an arm to the side to prevent him from charging. He let out a low growl after just barely stopping in his tracks. The man in black cocked his head to the side a little. In what appeared to be a habit of his, he stroked his jawline. "There seems to be a misunderstanding. Allow me to amend it. It wasn't just 'those two.' Alice...how many was it again?" "A hundred and eighty-seven, Father! Including the fox's twenty attendants!" Alice replied in a lively tone. The man praised her by stroking her cheek. A hundred and eighty-seven, including the fox's twenty attendants. What do those figures mean? Elisabeth frowned. The words had an ominous ring to them, but she couldn't figure out what they meant. Behind her, though, Lute and the rest of her men gasped. This time, it would appear they'd landed on the answer first. "A hundred and eighty-seven...including twenty... But that's..." "What is it, Lute? What are you all...? What's got you all so shaken?" "A hundred and eighty-sevenâ€”not counting us, that's the number of staff who was working here at Lady Vyade Ula Forstlast's primary residence." One of her subordinates, a dog-headed beastman who was quite proud of his short, black-and-white-spotted fur, filled her in. He was often lauded for his composed temperament, but now even he was speaking in a trembling voice. Elisabeth swiftly turned to the man in black. He gave her a leisurely nod, then elaborated in an unsettlingly calm tone. "Your men are impressively quick on the uptake. It's a rare blessing, being able to think so clearly under such adverse circumstances. They're absolutely rightâ€”the only ones on the premises still living... No, let me amend that. The only ones we let live were you, Peace Brigade Captain Elisabeth Le Fanu, and the men accompanying you." In other words, everyone but them...had been massacred. It was only then that Elisabeth Le Fanu finally understood. The situation they'd been placed in was far, far grimmer than she'd imagined. They slew everyone in the residence, many of them skilled military veterans, without my even noticing it? A sick joke if ever there was one! And yet... Elisabeth pressed down on her temple. The man certainly didn't seem to be lying. Try as she might, she couldn't sense anyone besides them in the building. And at any rate, he had little to gain from deceiving her and her men. Given the situation, there was no logical reason to doubt the man's grisly proclamation. Elisabeth dispassionately acknowledged that fact. The moment she did, a series of faces flickered through her mind. The cook who prepared her basket each morning. The lady-in-waiting who tidied her room so diligently. The soldier who came to her when he needed training advice. Now, Elisabeth hadn't been particularly close to any of them. The Torture Princess was a peerless sinnerâ€”she never knew when the world would turn against her once more, and because of that, she avoided ever getting too close to anyone. But even so, between Vyade the Wise Wolf's influence and the debt they all felt toward Kaito Sena, the beastfolk were all exceedingly polite and friendly to her. They had worn smiles in every memory she had of them. Every day, she'd been surrounded by friendly faces. Yet now...most of them are dead. They hadn't even gotten a chance to say good-bye. And now they would never speak again. Elisabeth felt a faint pang in her chest. However, she quickly made sure to crush that frail sentimentality. In the past, she herself had piled corpses as high as the eye could see. It would be the height of absurdity for her to be shaken by them now. And neither grief nor remorse was going to help them out of their current predicament. 'Twas a stroke of good fortune that Vyade dispatched her healers across the land as part of her charity initiative... 'Tis a useful group of people we avoided losing, Lute's wife among them. Elisabeth silently thought of the survivors. All the while, the beastfolk in attendance trembled. They'd been quick to grasp the situation, but doing so had given them such a shock that it had frozen them in place all over again. However, their rage was sure to surpass their shock and boil over before long. The man in black, on the other hand, casually went on, not showing the slightest hint of remorse. "I see you gentlemen understand the situation correctly. However, I do ask that you amend your 'flimsy, fleeting whim' commentâ€”although, I will concede that the trials you've overcome were most noteworthy." "That's right! Like a hero from a story, and the native people who fight alongside him!" "Alice, if you really want to become a proper lady, you're going to have to learn to control yourself. I'm talking right now, and it's rude to interrupt. Do you understand?" Upon being scolded by the man in black, Alice puffed out her cheeks, then began spinning in circles instead. Her blue dress flared out around her like a blooming flower. The man, leaving her to her strange devices, went on. "The first trial was when the fourteen demons, led by Vlad Le Fanu, rose up against you. The second was the advent of the Torture Princess. The thirdâ€”ironically brought about by her actions leading to Vlad's successful captureâ€”was having to subjugate the thirteen demons after they scattered and fled. And the fourth was avoiding the world's orchestrated demise. Your efforts in each of those grand battles were noble enough that even I find myself forced to acknowledge them. My actions today, disgraceful and violent though they may be, served a crucial purpose. You see, while you all were fighting for salvation in the light, a tragedy bleak enough to warrant revolution was playing out in the background." "I see. 'Twas most illuminating. I now know that, much like Vlad, you're a tad too fond of the sound of your own voice. Just get to the point and say what you're trying to say, damn you!" If Vlad were present to hear that, he would doubtless go on a long, pointless diatribe about how the comparison was unjust, thereby immediately proving it. However, Elisabeth swiftly banished the image of her foster father that had welled up in her mind on its own accord as she gave voice to her candid anger. The man stroked the border between his mask and his jaw, then nodded with the same unshakable composure as always. "I acknowledge that I'm not being very specific. Do understand, though, that that's somewhat intentional. In order to discuss particulars, we should first change locale. That's related to why I left you alive, Elisabeth Le Fanu. We see you as someone important for us to talk to." "...'Someone important for you to talk to'?" Elisabeth scowled. Those were hardly the words she'd expected to hear from the man who'd massacred her beastfolk comrades. Alice, not noticing Elisabeth's contemptuous gaze, hopped up and down like a white rabbit. "That's right, that's right! We wanted to talk to you! Because I think we can understand each other, see? I told you, didn't I? I'll help you meet them! You can count on us, you know.