slumber. It follows that our entire lives were built upon her suffering, upon the sacrifice she made. We must take care to respect her, to revere God, to cleanse ourselves, and to live righteously. With how many are falling victim, as though the tale of old is being recreated, doing so is more important than ever. Carrying on upon land ravaged by demons is no mean feat. Thankfully, due to its unforeseen strength, the Capital was able to escape total destruction. But even so, living with such disgraceful scars is a task far too hopeless, and far too unpleasant. So pray, all of you. Implore Him, all of you. Believe in His compassion, seek out His love, and pray for a miracle. Our Lord may be distant, but the Saint is close at hand. We must humbly pray, wishing for a miracle like that of old. We must pray that she remains boundlessly compassionate. But even as you all pray, you remain unaware. Incapable of understanding. Incapable of understanding that a true miracle is a miracle precisely because it occurs. Come now, O ye ignorant faithful. Pray that God will be your Savior. For the beginning, the middle, and the end all lie in the palm of His hand. 1 An Invitation from the Beastfolk A few days ago, the Monarch, the Grand Monarch, and the King had fused into a mass of flesh and attacked the Capital, dealing it a fatal blow. Humanity had narrowly defeated them, though, finally ending the menace the fourteen demons had posed. As proof of that, and to exemplify the conclusion of mankind's nightmare, the Church had announced that an execution would be carried out. Elisabeth Le Fanu, the Torture Princess and a peerless sinner, would be symbolically burned at the stake. People had crowded around the execution site in order to catch a glimpse of that historic moment. Ultimately, the death sentence was put on hold. The reason being that a new demon and contractor had loudly declared war on humanity. In the end, the curtain had not fallen on mankind's nightmare. And so the Torture Princess, having escaped the stake, began her demon subjugation anew on the Church's orders. As for her current status, she was in her castle, asleep. It was still early in the afternoon. In other words, she was enjoying a leisurely afternoon nap. Elisabeth was lying down with her eyes closed, surrounded by stone walls and atop a well-made yet simple bed. She looked almost like a lovely Sleeping Beauty. However, she wasn't even slightly drowsy. The fact that her lips were pursed and her eyebrows occasionally twitched in frustration made it obvious. Without warning, a strange noise rang out, and a white orb came hurtling through the broken shutters of the room's window. The Church's communication device was emitting a shrill noise. Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech! Crack! The next moment, a swirling vortex of darkness and crimson flower petals appeared out of thin air, only for a whip to emerge from within it to strike the noisy intruder. The sphere took a sudden nosedive until Elisabeth extended a hand and caught it. As the wings on the orb's sides gently drooped, a huge number of glyphs flashed across its surface. After she read its contents, Elisabeth quickly sat up. "Good work." With that, she nodded and hurled the orb away. It went flying out the window. Elisabeth clapped her hands together, then murmured in displeasure. "I see... Hmph, showing our face rather frequently now, aren't we? Amateur." Following that remark, she reached her hand out into empty space. Darkness and crimson petals swirled once more. Elisabeth withdrew a serrated knife designed for torture from within, then tossed it forward. Thunk! The knife firmly planted itself into both the wall and the map affixed to it. The map was already riddled with knives. Each time the Church sent her information regarding sightings of a particular individual, she'd stabbed the map in the corresponding location. The arrangement of the knives was beginning to reveal a definite pattern to the sightings, one that likely not even the fugitive in question was aware of. Elisabeth gazed at the map with her dark, crimson eyes. Then she opened her shapely mouth to speak. The voice that came out of it was alarmingly hollow. "Worry not, Kaito. Your days of bearing sins and being loathed by the world shall not be many." Suddenly, a tired smile made its way across her face. Her voice was dry, yet full of pity as well. "For soon, I will come to put you down myself." A heavy silence fell over the room. Snorting, Elisabeth lay back down on the bed. She closed her eyes once more, but she tossed and turned restlessly, unable to find sleep. Eventually, covering her eyes with her arms, she ground her teeth as she whispered. "'Tis quiet... Too quiet." Silence pervaded her castle. There was no obnoxious voice asking her why the hell she was sleeping. And there was no charming call, telling her it was time for tea, either. That was only natural. It would have been far stranger for there to be anyone eccentric enough to willingly talk to the Torture Princess. Consequently, she was completely and utterly alone. "Ah, achoo!" "Ha, Master Kaito sneezed! How adorable! Or rather, are you all right? Have you caught a cold?" "Um, y'know, I don't think golem bodies can get sick. Maybe someone's talking about me behind my back?" Completely unfazed, Kaito rubbed his nose. Without a moment's delay, Hina pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and gently pressed it against his face. "All right, Master Kaitoâ€”blow!" "Thanks, Hina. I'll wash it and give it back, achoo!" Kaito sneezed once more. Quickly folding up the handkerchief, Hina passionately clenched her fists. "I think not! I will be taking this handkerchief, along with the memory of your delightfully adorable sneeze, and storing it in my treasured Master Kaito Collection as Collection Number 1983!" "That's gonna be a no. C'mon, give it here." "Never! Ahem. With all due respect, is this not but a meager request from your loving wifeâ€”eek, I said 'wife'! Shall I bat my eyelashes?" "Even being my wife doesn't make it okay. You can't keep it!" "Master Kaito, you meanie!" Hina puffed up her cheeks. "Making a cute face isn't going to suddenly make it okay," said Kaito as he took the handkerchief from her hand. A mass of people was passing by as the two of them went through their inane exchange. The makeup of the crowds was truly varied, from their occupations and social statuses to their races. There were townsfolk and merchants, sailors and laborers, magical beast demolishers, demi-humans, and beastfolk. It was no wonderâ€”the town was built at the intersection of two large rivers, serving as both a mooring place for ships and a hub for regional commerce. Due to the diversity of the merchants and the sheer number of people, their surroundings were quite lively. Stalls lined both sides of the road, and the busy sounds of trade filled the air. Although it looked like your run-of-the-mill market, this place had one special trait. No permit was required to sell by the roadside, nor were there restrictions on what could be sold. Perhaps it was because no one had to fear random inspections conducted by soldiers, but despite the dubious public order, the whole town was as animated as its inhabitants. Even so, if one strained their ears, they could make out disquieting rumors. "What, that old man? He went to the Capital. No matter how much building material ya bring up there, it's never enough." "We're in bad shape here. Our client went under, you see... No, as in, literally went under. All the apprentices got swallowed up by that mass of flesh. I still can't believe it myself... What about you? I hear the apothecaries got hit real hard." "It was a real piece of work. And it isn't just the apothecaries. Everything just keeps getting more expensive. And who knows how long it'll take before things settle down...or how many people'll string themselves up before then." A few days ago, the demons had invaded the Capital. The attack had been nothing short of devastating. Due to how concentrated the population was, the death toll had been immense. Many buildings with historical value had been destroyed. The main marketplace and the factories had been annihilated, too, in addition to the losses of various storehouses, transportation systems and communication devices, and many other essentials. The monetary damages had been incalculable. And it hadn't just affected the Capitalâ€”the surrounding regions accepting the massive influx of refugees were showing signs of financial strain as well. The labor shortages were becoming problematic, while the stability of the food supply was constantly in question. The damage to the nation's economic and political center had cast a grave shadow over the lives of its people. The current situation filled Kaito with sorrow. The conversation bubbling up around him continued to reach his ears. "We don't have enough workers to go around. But none of these refugees are taking any jobs. The Church says they're working on it, but I dunno. The Capital itself has the paladins watching over things, so it's doing all right, but everywhere else is in shambles." "They keep demanding more mercenaries, huh? They still haven't caught the Kaiser's contractor?" Kaito and Hina instinctively exchanged a glance. Then they quickly distanced themselves from the marketplace. After all, the Kaiser's contractor in question was none other than Kaito himself. The two of them were currently fugitives. Of course, there was a profound reason behind that. Once, after a lifetime of abuse at the hands of his father, Kaito had been killed. Following his death, Kaito's soul had been summoned to another world, where he obtained a new life. And the one who'd summoned him had been none other than the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu, a sinner fated to be executed after fulfilling her duty of killing fourteen demons. Together with Kaito, the Torture Princess slew the demons who'd attacked the Capital, successfully completing the mission handed down to her by the Church. Having finally atoned for her crimes, she was supposed to have been burned at the stake. But Kaito refused to accept the Torture Princess's fate. Accompanied by the Kaiser, whom he'd formed a contract with, Kaito turned against humanity. As the fifteenth demonic contractor, he'd loudly announced his intent to become a villain to the entire Capital. All that had been for the sake of granting humanity a new enemy and convincing the Church to postpone Elisabeth's execution. This was how Kaito had come to shoulder the heavy burden of sin, now hated by all and on the run. And as for Kaito and Hina's current status, they were gathering provisions. It was a trifling, obvious task. But the fact of the matter was that people needed to eat. Kaito had yet to fully fuse with his demon. As such, he still required nutrients to survive. But serious obstacles stood in the way of his and Hina's desire to procure a steady supply of food. First, the town's food situation was strained because the supply lines had been thrown into disarray. But more importantly, Kaito's left arm had assumed a beastly form, causing him to stand out considerably. The obvious solution would have been to ask Hina to buy what they needed, but her striking silver hair, emerald-green eyes, and miraculous beauty made that less than ideal. Of course, Kaito wasn't at a complete loss. The first time they confronted this problem, he'd turned to Vlad, who was ostensibly his teacher when it came to matters of magic. "Shapeshifting, disguises, or invisibility spells, you say... Ha, how mundane! You know, I once had a device that could stop time, which would have easily prevented anyone from ever catching you. Back when I was alive, you see,