In the World of Midgar 81 — The Dwarf Country Blutgang (17)

꒰ঌ The Dwarf Country Blutgang 17

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The grimmfolk's castle was located outside of the sphere of humanity — a place commonly referred to as the Dark Continent. It was a place ruled by grimmfolk. Its exact position was unknown, but it wasn't anywhere close enough that monsters tamed by humanity could attack it. That went both ways. The grimmfolk couldn't easily attack out of it, either, except for the fact that they could teleport.

More precisely, the Grimm King and Orange, one of the members of the Seven Grimms of Purgatory, could teleport. And they used that to cut travel times by a great deal. Ruto could only get places through his father's Xgate, though, since he didn't trust Orange.

Ruto's suspicion was never wiped away. In fact, these last few days it has only gotten stronger. No, not just stronger. Ruto's suspicion had grown into conviction. He knew that Orange was not an ally of the grimmfolk.

"Orange! Orange, are you here?!" Ruto shouted.

Orange was elusive. If you called her, she'd pop up out of nowhere, even if you didn't think she was around. Ruto continued shouting for her for a few minutes. A tear opened in empty space, and a black haired young woman popped out of it, landing lightly in front of Ruto.

"Did you call for me, Prince Ruto?"

"I have something I want to ask you."

"As you wish."

Orange's origins were a mystery among the grimmfolk. She was simply a beautiful young woman that Kyoka, the de facto leader of the Seven Grimms of Purgatory, brought in one day. Naturally, since the grimmfolk are formed fully grown, unlike most living creatures, her origins weren't questioned at all. She may have had skin and eyes that were different than most grimmfolk, but Ruto was the same, so she was easily accepted. Most importantly, the Grimm King himself approved of her, so others lost the ability to interject. By the time anyone noticed, she'd completely blended in.

But no matter how much I think about it, this girl is strange, Ruto thought. After all, Orange could use Xgate, an ancient technique said to only be possible by being able to use both magic and heaven-arts at the same time. The grimmfolk were incarnations of mana. So there was no way for them to use heaven-arts. The only one who was able to do so was the Grimm King himself.

My father most likely knows this girl's true identity, as well as her goal. However, Ruto was sure that while her goal may benefit his father, it wouldn't benefit the grimmfolk. Ruto didn't know what his father wanted. And he didn't want to doubt the man. But Ruto could cleanly declare that allowing Orange to do as she pleased was a mistake.

"Then here is my first question. You told Vernal of Fiona and used her ambition to make her go wild, didn't you?"

"Oh my, 'used'? How horrid. I simply informed her of an easy method to bring down that annoyance of a country, Svel. Well, it failed due to the unexpected appearance of Ouzelia Lucifen… But I don't think it's fair to expect me to have predicted that." Orange smiled calmly.

Ruto averted his gaze from the beautiful woman, who was giving him a sidelong, flirtatious look, and went back to his questions. He knew that there was one thing you must never do when talking to her, and that was to look into her eyes. If a person were to look into her eyes, they'd start thinking things they'd normally never consider. Their will was pulled away from them. Once they'd calmed down afterwards, they'd finally realize how strange they'd been acting.

Ruto was aware that Orange was most likely trying something while they were talking.

"Second: you told Mercury waiting to be stoked in Gjallarhorn and guided him into taking Tayuya as well, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. Unfortunately, that one also ended in failure. Ah, that was a case of a schemer being caught by her own schemes. Remembering my smug face as I saw him off is so embarrassing. I've learned from that experience. Totally."

You're so damn shameless. Ruto couldn't stop himself from clenching his fist as the blood rushed to his head. But he calmed down when Ruko, who was by his side, grasped his fist.

Right. I can't get worked up. Getting swept up in anger in front of her is like committing suicide.

"Third… You tempted Anko into attacking Blutgang in concert with Ruko's infiltration, didn't you?"

"Yes. I wanted to support Ruko, since she was working so hard."

"You fool… In what world is making an infiltration mission so showy helping? That's like screaming out to the world that someone has infiltrated."

Ruko's mission was originally to infiltrate with only a few attendants. It was far from something that would require that many grimmfolk or Anko to accompany them. She was supposed to have secretly infiltrated Blutgang, famed for its solid defenses, and assassinated the leadership. That was the original plan.

But Orange was the one who completely ruined that plan. She tempted Ruko, asking if it was really okay to just leave it at that and used her wanting to be acknowledged by Ruto to add to and change the original mission. She added Anko to attack from the front and put Blutgang on a war footing. Then she added too many meaningless grimmfolk reinforcements and transformed the mission into a huge operation. As a result, Tayuya had noticed and confronted Ruko, and Ouzelia Lucifen had even appeared outside and captured Anko. The operation had turned into a huge failure.

The saying, "With friends like these, who needs enemies," was very appropriate here. Of course plans would fail one after another with an ally who weighed them down this heavily.

"No… It's strange that Ouzelia Lucifen was summoned in the hero-summoning ritual in the first place. Was that something you did? Only you or my father could interfere with an Xgate like that."

"…"

"Then, you continued to guide Lucifen down the path you wanted and had her clash with my father in Laevateinn. And there's my father's sudden expedition, too… Was that an idea you gave him as well?"

Right now, the Grimm King wasn't in the castle. Several days ago, or rather, right after he'd fought Lucifen, he took some subordinates and went off on an expedition somewhere. And the subordinates he'd taken weren't grimmfolk, either. They were an elite force consisting of monsters he'd captured and raised using his powers as a Monster Tamer. From the fact that he took them it was plain to see what that meant for the rest of the grimmfolk, too.

But Orange's expression never wavered in front of Ruto's interrogation. Her smile simply got a mite deeper as she boldly continued to answer.

"I'll answer your last question. Yes, it is as you say. I organized that fight. His Excellency wished for it."

Ruto narrowed his eyes and quickly put his hand to his sword's hilt. In a single movement, he drew the sword and swung with godlike speed, aiming for Orange's neck. Ruko couldn't even see the sword's blade; it only looked like a flash of light. But even then, Orange didn't flinch.

"You. Just what are you planning? What are you trying to achieve by using us?!"

"Hmmm… I suppose he wouldn't mind if I told you. His Excellency does care about you specifically, and I don't want to make an enemy of him. But," Orange paused and looked pointedly at Ruko. "Unfortunately, I will not talk in front of her."

"Ruko is the only subordinate I can trust. There is no problem. Speak."

"I cannot. The problem isn't whether she is trustworthy or not," Orange said, and a tear opened up behind Ruko.

Her aim was obvious. She was threatening Ruto, implying that if he were to actually attack her she would then take Ruko to the grave as well.

The Seven Grimms of Purgatory were basically of the same standing, but Orange was the only one who didn't fit into that structure. Ruto couldn't get a read on Orange, and in order to stand against her, Ruko was a chip that was too precious and couldn't be substituted.

Ruto grit his teeth as he lowered his sword. When he did, the tear closed as well.

"J-just what is wrong with me?! Why am I no good?!"

"Because you're nothing but an NPC, you sad little puppet."

"What? N… NPC? Pup… pet? Me?"

"Yes. A poor, poor puppet that doesn't even realize she is one. You aren't even aware of the fact that you are just a toy. Just as… I was, until meeting that person."

Orange spoke that last sentence softly. It was hard to hear exactly what she said, but Ruko still knew that it was humiliating.

Ruto's expression clouded with anger, and he glared sharply at Orange.

"Orange, using my authority, I relieve you of your position in the Seven Grimms of Purgatory starting today. Don't think you'll be able to do as you please anymore."

"… My, that was sooner than I thought it'd be, but I suppose it was just a matter of time. Luckily, all the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians who were here have been retrieved, so I guess it's all right."

"What?"

"I'm saying that I've gotten tired of acting."

Orange laughed scornfully, and her hair billowed with the motion. At the same time, several tears opened up, surrounding Ruto and Ruko. Orange stuck her hand into a tear that opened up by her side at the same time as the others and continuously fired magic.

The magic came out through the tears surrounding Ruto and Ruko, assaulting the two of them all at once.

"You?!"

"Well then, it was nice knowing the two of you. Let us meet again, as enemies next time. Please give my farewells to His Excellency."

Orange — no, Minako — jumped through a tear in space and escaped. As soon as she did so, a golden light was unleashed from all the tears surrounding Ruto and Ruko at once.

This attack would amount to nothing more than some light damage for Ruto, but it would be fatal for Ruko. Ruto quickly reacted and took Ruko into his embrace, using his own body to shield her from the attack.

Orange's attack wasn't meant to kill either of them in the first place. She'd just used the fact that Ruko would be a burden to make sure that Ruto couldn't move while she escaped.

The attack stopped, and the first thing Ruto did was make sure that Ruko was safe and sound in his arms. Next, he looked around for Orange, but she was already gone.

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