chapter 6, part 1

The Major and the Automatic Assassin Doll

Leidenschaftlich – upon hearing the name, people would say it was a military nation. Such was the kind of impression that his country gave off.

Said country was located at south of the continent. It was a maritime nation with its major cities set along the seacoast. The temperatures were mostly warm yearlong and snowfall was not common in winter. The main national interest were marine products and the natural resources surrounding the ocean, as well as utilizing them in foreign trading. Leiden, the capital serving as a gateway to land from other continents, was known as a trade port.

There also were many countries which economy would not survive if trading ever stopped in Leidenschaftlich. That was why there were just as many threats from foreign enemies targeting his motherland. If one studied the country's history, they would find it to be mostly recordings of battles against invaders. Countless soldiers of enemy nations coming either from the sea or from borders between other continents had died in front of its forts. It had been under the control of other countries numerous times as well.

In such occasions, every citizen was roused into driving off intruders and regaining their country. That could be considered the main quality and spirit of the people living in the nation called Leidenschaftlich. Due to many continuous conflicts, sharpening their defenses became a necessity. They would flexibly incorporate the cultures and weapons of other countries earned through trading and make use of them while incessantly improving them. Those experiences turned Leidenschaftlich into a military nation renowned in the whole continent.

Within Leidenschaftlich was a household that had existed since its foundation – Bougainvillea. It was a family which ancestors were worshiped as national heroes. Its beginning was marked by when the family head of the first generation, Ratchedt, became a patriot devoted to the salvation of his country through driving a myriad of raiders away with his sword skills and military strategies, consequently saving many people.

Following the grandeur of their predecessors, it was tradition in the Bougainvillea family to have its children join the army as a matter of course, which had not changed even in current times, when the 26th generation ruled over the household. This story began with a turning point in the life of Gilbert Bougainvillea, the family head of the 26th generation.

Gilbert Bougainvillea saw 'it' for the first time during a chance meeting after several years with his older brother, Dietfriet, in the most prestigious inn of the capital city, Leiden.

Those who had the blood of Bougainvillea would be born with jet-black hair, emerald eyes, long limbs, thin waists and broad shoulders. Dietfriet grew his hair long like a woman and tied it with a ribbon, inappropriately wearing the stand-up collar of his white naval uniform wide open, displaying the gold necklace around his neck.

"Hey, Gil. Have you been well? As always, you have a depressingly serious face on. It's just like Dad's."

On the other hand, despite being of the same bloodline, Gilbert was the opposite of his elder brother, who had a flirtatious air about him, in looks. His inky hair was carefully combed from his forehead to the back of his head and his irises were of a softer shade than his brother's deep green, orbs glowing like a true emerald gemstone. Unlike his brother's impartial expression, his was virile. His features resembled a marble sculpture, eyelashes so long they cast a shadow in their tendency of being half-closed. Perhaps the evaluation of those who looked at him objectively was on-point when it came to him being a beautiful man with a melancholic face.

Disapproving of his brother's figure, he wore the quilted collar of his own uniform – a purplish black outfit paired with burgundy linen shoulder pads and a decorative accordion-pleats cloth glistening around his hips – diligently buttoned up to his neck. The stoic colors matched Gilbert's persona rather well.

On the top floor of a twelve-story high-rise building, in a room where the accommodation for one night was worth a month of an ordinary person's salary, the two brothers tightly hugged and sat on a nearby sofa. There were people present besides them. They were the comrades Dietfriet had brought along as he visited his younger brother when stopping by Leiden. All of them drank and smoked at the bar counter set up in the exterior of each apartment. White smoke swirled around the ceiling.

"Brother is… the same as ever." Gilbert commented, eyeing his older brother's un-soldier-like figure, as well as the companions he led, who wore similar get-ups. He was an outstanding presence in such midst.

"It's vacation, y'know? Unlike the army, we of the navy become very liberal every time we're back on land."

"Brother… you dress like that no matter whether you're in the sea or on land, don't you? That hair… if Father saw this, he would definitely not have allowed it. He'd probably have cut it with his saber."

"That would be a hassle. It's good that he died."

Dietfriet intended to be lighthearted, but his younger brother did not let it slide. He gave the other a stern glance.

Perhaps due to being weak to receiving such a look from him, Dietfriet sighed. "Aah… my bad. He might've been a fine old man for you, but to me, he was the worst. That's all."

"Is that the sole reason why you didn't come to his funeral and left me to take over the inheritances on my own?"

"It fits you better, doesn't it? That household was never adequate for me, and I'm not cut to be the family head. Rather than let our brilliant bloodline's honor be tainted by my poor skills simply because I'm the eldest, it's better to have a suitable and righteous guy doing the job. Even for the sake of future descendants. Hey, Gil. Hasn't it already been a long time? Just forgive me already. I don't wanna keep being guilt-tripped during our entire reunion. I might've parted ways with the Bougainvillea house, but I wanna remain your brother. Let's talk about something fun."

As he was told so in rebuttal, Gilbert fell silent.

It was a general custom in the Bougainvillea family to join the army. Although the army and navy were defense organizations that served the same country and part of the military, both were separate entities. Each was conscious of and often hostile towards the other. The motive was mostly that the two had to share Leidenschaftlich's military budget. Money and interest were causes of conflict regardless of the location or era.

In the history of the Bougainvillea family, Dietfriet had been the first to choose the navy over the army. Not only had he joined it, but also steadily carved a career path for himself in it. It was all due to his confidence in scoring achievements with his own efforts and talents, even without making use of his parents' glory. Gilbert acknowledged that, which was why he could not help thinking of one thing.

——In reality, you're the one who should have succeeded them.

"Since you've finally stopped by… how about paying Mom a visit? Please be our mediator together with me."

Were his brother not so bad at accepting reality, things would not have become so complicated.

"Our family is big, so if I went to see Mom, I'd have to greet our sisters, Grandmother and all the older relatives too, right? It would be a bother. I can clearly see myself yelling at them and leaving after they start their faultfinding."

As Dietfriet laid on his back, legs loosely crossed, Gilbert let his shock show at the abusive language. "Aren't we family? Can't you make an effort to get along with them at least a little?"

"It's exactly 'cause we're family that I wanna keep a distance… But you… I can actually be around you. It's difficult with the others. Gilbert, I'm grateful. Our parents' expectations were canalized to you because I joined the navy, and you've been accurately responding to them. Even I… understand that I'm not being told to come back home too often because you've been a good replacement for me. That's why… I came in a hurry to the celebration of your promotion… since we're brothers."

Even from his younger brother's perspective, Dietfriet was very charismatic as he playfully smiled with his eyes closed. Although Dietfriet had a self-centered and bossy personality, he had some sort of quality that drew others to him. He was always surrounded and respected by many people, never bashful of it. As Gilbert was unable to love anyone due to being too stern, his elder brother had everything he lacked, to the point of making him infinitely envious as a fellow human being.

"That's right, I brought something great for the party." Dietfriet casually signaled with his hand to one of his friends close by.

Once he did so, the man brought in his arms a hemp sack taken from a different room.

"That's the weapon I've been using lately but I'll give it to you. With this, there's no mistaking that you'll keep getting even higher promotions."

The sack was carelessly placed on the oval table between the two of them. Dietfriet smirked stiffly as Gilbert noticed something moving from within the sack and immediately got up from the couch, firmly gripping the sword plugged to his belt.

"It's okay. It's okay, Gil. Calm down. It's nothing strange. No, maybe it is crazy. Haha. It may be a bit difficult to handle and dangerous, but it's well-behaved when you don't give it orders. But don't think of doing anything weird… since its looks aren't bad. As far as I know, eight people tried to sneak into its bed and had their necks ripped. Its rough temper is troublesome. It doesn't serve as a comforter."

"What's inside?"

"Only… use it as a weapon. Don't think of it as anything else. Don't get attached to it. It's a 'weapon'. All right?"

"I'm asking… what's inside."

"Try opening it." Dietfriet's words sounded like an invitation from a devil.

Gilbert and moved his hands to unravel the cord tightly tied around the hemp sack that had once twitched. The person inside looked like a mermaid princess for a moment as the hemp sack lay at her waistline.

"I haven't named it. We just call it 'you'."

'It' was a girl. Her sooty-colored clothes were scraped rags made out of poor leather and fur. A choker that somewhat reeked of subordination was fastened around her neck. A smell that seemed like a mixture of rain, wild animals and blood wafted from her body. Everything that enveloped her was dirty. However, rather than her simply being a slightly muddy child that needed to be cleaned up…

——It's unthinkable… that she is from this world.

…she was too beautiful.

Gilbert's breathing halted at the girl's figure. Her waist-long ashen hair shone brighter than any gold jewelry. On her face were too many scratches and grazes. Her blue eyes could be seen beneath the slits of her disarrayed locks.

Orbs that were not exactly the color of the sky nor the sea looked straight at Gilbert. The two stared at each other for a moment. Neither moved, as though time had frozen.

"Hey, give your greetings." Dietfriet aggressively grabbed the girl's head and forced her to bow down.

Upon seeing that, Gilbert quickly pushed away his brother's hand and embraced the girl with his own two. She trembled in his arms.

"Don't be violent with a child! Have you been trafficking people!?"

While hugging her as if to protect her, no matter how one looked at it, Gilbert was enraged. His face of pure anger with a vein protruding on his forehead silenced the blithe conversation of the other men in the room.

Amongst them, only Dietfriet remained collected and with a neutral expression. "Don't spout nonsense. I don't need slaves. I do want warriors, though."

"Then what is this girl?! What's so amusing about offering me such a small infant?"

"Like I said… this isn't a kid. It's a 'weapon'. I just told you that, didn't I? You're some pretty distrusting younger brother."

Gilbert observed the girl. Apparently, she was about ten years old. Her finely-adorned face gave off a slightly adult-like impression, but her youthfulness was delated by her petite shoulders and hands. Just what in her was a weapon? She was but a child that could easily fit within one's arms.

Gilbert's wrath subsided, gradually supplanted by sadness. Not letting go of the girl, he glared at his brother and stood up from his seat. "I'm taking her with me. Calling this… little one a weapon… I… don't want to see you ever again."

At those words, Dietfriet burst into laughter, covering his eyes. So did his comrades. With countless underlying laughs resonating in his ears, Gilbert was shrouded in coarseness and disgust, as well as a bit of fear. It was a bizarre atmosphere. He felt different from them in some way, though the feeling was not quite of alienation.

——It's almost as if… I'm the one who is insane.

From the beginning, only Gilbert was dissimilar amongst them. Perverse as something could be, the opposing minority would be considered the one in the wrong if it accounted for the majority. The vast majority's anomaly progressively encroached the minority's normalcy.

"What is… so funny?"

Dietfriet slowly stood up, walked towards Gilbert's side and tapped his shoulder. "Gil… sorry for the half-assed explanation. Sure, just by looking at it, anyone would have that kind of reaction. You're a serious and nice guy, too. You won't understand in one glimpse that this is a weapon. That's why… I'll show it to you in a practical way that will be easy to get. You come too." Dietfriet told the girl.

Without delay, she smoothly escaped from Gilbert's hands and followed after Dietfriet. However, she displayed a questioning attitude towards Gilbert for an instant. Whenever she moved, her blue eyes, which seemed to leave afterglows, invited people over with a single glance.

Gilbert hurried to stand up again. He was guided to the next room, where the girl had come from in the hemp sack – a luxury bedroom.

It was only natural that there was more than one commodity; the problem was how the other one was being used. The bed was pressed against the wall, leaving a widely open space in the center. What lay in it were five more hemp sacks. Their size was big enough for adult males to fit into. Unlike the girl's, they moved constantly in rampage. Faint sounds akin to cries of livestock, which merged with words that could not be discerned, leaked from them. Most likely, whoever was inside had been roped and gagged.

No matter the motive, treating humans in such manner was wrong. Those who could remain with composed expressions in that situation were wicked, Gilbert thought. The contagious madness spread from the tips of his toes up to his throat, yet he somehow managed to muster out his voice, "Who… are they? Why are they tied up? Brother, explain what's going on…"

His heart buzzed sordidly, as if predicting the future.

"Ah, I gotta introduce these guys first, right? They're filth that infiltrated our ship when we stopped by the harbor." Dietfriet gently kicked one of the sacks with polished leather shoes. "Guess they were looking for valuable stuff. They entered without examining the inner structure, ended up bumping into three cooks in the kitchen and killed them to keep their mouths shut. For us, who live in the sea, having satisfying meals is very important." He raised his leg backwards and swung it low enough for the tip of his shoe to hit the sack.

Gilbert grimaced at the scream coming from inside.

"These guys… killed our best cooks, including the chef. How great do you think they had to be, given that they came abroad our ship to cook for us by our solicitation? You can't pay them with the same amount that you'd buy a woman for one night. We, the navy, deal with the things that happen in each ship according to our own laws. Well, we're on land right now, but… it happened in the ship, so this is valid. Now, I'll show you something interesting… Hey, get them out. Also, give them weapons."

At Dietfriet's command, his fellow men who had also come to the other room untied the hemp sacks one by one and let the thieves out. As the men released the ropes while pointing guns at the thieves, they handed knives over to each. The puzzled five robbers raised their fear-mingled voices with a, "What's the meaning of this?"

Ignoring them, Dietfriet gestured exaggeratedly with his hand. "Now, this is the start of the world's most mysterious and fascinating game. Gentlemen… well, there are none here. No ladies, either. Then, you bastards! What I'm about to show you is the wild brat I found in an Eastern continent."

Upon being pointed at, the girl stared at his fingertips with a face that seemed to not pose any emotions.

He continued, "I met this thing about a month ago when we completely butchered a shitty armed fleet that was plotting to destroy one of Leidenschaftlich's maritime trading ports. On a certain night, in the middle of the battle, we were hit by a huge storm. It was a grave catastrophe where both our allies and our enemies sank into the coastal seas. It seems this was in the news. I didn't know about it because I was drifting at the time."

Gilbert was skeptical at not ever having been informed that his brother had narrowly avoided death, but had no chance to discuss the topic in the flow of the story.

"The ship stranded, and I and some of my comrades arrived at a deserted island that wasn't marked in any map by using a small lifeboat. I found this on that very island. It was all alone, looking into the distance from the top of a big tree. Did its parents die? Did it suffer an accident in the sea like us? We still haven't found out its identity." Dietfriet confessed. "Its appearance isn't half bad, right? In ten or so years, it could probably twist an entire country, but it's still a brat. I have no interest in brats. I don't… but there are people in this world who do. Some of my former subordinates loved that kind of stuff. They gleefully approached it and attempted to molest it on the spot. We had just been drifting a while prior, yet they were so energetic. That was appalling. I was super annoyed, and was about to tell them to not irritate me any more than that as I went to try stopping those morons, but…" Dietfriet grabbed the girl's shoulders and brought her right in front of the thieves, her blue eyes seizing them. "…before I could do so, this thing killed my underlings." He grabbed her pale arms from behind and hurtled them around the air. The motion was of a wild beast about to attack a prey.

The thieves laughed dryly at the girl being treated as a puppet and at Dietfriet's short play. It was an expected reaction. Exactly what could that child do?

"With a stick that had been lying next to her feet, she stabbed one of them in the neck from the side, then stole a gun from his waist holster and shot him in the heart."

Gilbert could notice from his brother's expression that he was telling no joke.

"We all fled. There are numerous kinds of native peoples in this world. To think that we are the only strong ones is a mistake. If just one of their runts was that strong, how strong would an adult be? But no matter how much we ran, this thing hunted us down. It never got too close, but was also never far enough for us to lose it from sight. We went over the whole island. Our nerves were wrecked. I was exhausted and decided we had to do something, so I had my comrades ready their weapons and yelled, 'Everyone, kill!'. I had… meant that we were going to kill it. Still…" Dietfriet went on with an icy face, "…in the next moment, this thing slaughtered everyone in that place except for me." His way of speaking was of someone who obviously held a grudge. Dietfriet looked down at the girl with provoking eyes. "After that, I was pursued by this killer demon. It followed me around without leaving my side. It could have perfectly murdered me, but didn't. Words didn't work on it. While I couldn't figure out how to talk to it, I slowly realized that it was the only inhabitant of that island. Have you any idea how frightening it is to have a killer demon glued to you? When my sanity was finally gone, I said, 'just kill me', and then that thing slew an animal hidden in the grass. That's when I understood… that it had killed because I had ordered it to. Once I reckoned this, I did repeated experiments. For example, if I pointed to animals or insects and said 'kill', she would immediately do so like some sort of mechanical doll. Clearly, she would also exterminate people if told to. I don't know why it chose me. Maybe it was okay with receiving orders from anyone, or might have just submitted to whom it perceived as the most influential person of the group it had encountered. This has little intelligence. It doesn't speak any language, but can understand the order to massacre. It's as if it doesn't need to know anything else. Despite my worries, I let this be beside me as I survived and waited for rescue. I brought it home with me."

In the meantime, the people standing by the room's exit and center had scattered. Dietfriet pushed the girl towards the thieves after giving her a knife. It was too big for her hands.

"Brother." While thinking that could not be happening, Gilbert rebuked, "Brother, don't do anything stupid." Knowing it would not be enough, he stretched an arm towards the two from behind.

Dietfriet smiled only with his lips, and then pointed at the thieves while nodding at the girl. "Kill."

Gilbert was about to grab the girl's tiny fingers, but in a second, her hand was gone.

The command's execution was instantaneous. The girl jumped like a cat onto the nearest man with the knife in position, slashing his throat as cleanly as though cutting a fruit from a tree. From his neck, the 'branch', a large amount of blood burst out, and his head, the 'fruit', shook relentlessly.

She posed no hesitation to assassinate, and was fast to move on to the next action. Using the man's body as a stepping-stone, the girl leaped and wrapped her bare legs around the neck of another thief, thrusting the knife into the crown of his head. Cries of deathly agony echoed in the room.

The girl then took the unused weapon from the second corpse and turned to face the remaining three people. The thieves, who had finally realized the seriousness of their circumstances, screamed and launched themselves at the girl. But she was quicker. Using her small body, she slipped past their feet and stabbed one after another from behind.

She was so light, yet the way she swung her arms with was so heavy. Her body was even more impressive than Gilbert's, who had been trained in battle and martial techniques as well as wielding weaponry in the military. She looked as if she had no weight or center of gravity. Every time she flew around, fresh blood splashed along.

"Please stop… sto… stop…" the cornered last man implored for his life. He had completely lost the will to fight back, desperately pleading with trembling lips and a voice coated in fear, "I won't ever do that again… I'll compensate for my crimes… so please don't kill me."

Most likely, he was reminiscing to what the cooks had told him when finding themselves in the same situation, spitting out what he could remember. He then dropped his weapon to show no resistance.

The girl looked behind her shoulder while still clasping the bloody knife. She sought judgment.

Gilbert shouted, "Stop!"

"Do it." at the same time, Dietfriet raised his thumb and motioned with it as if cutting his own neck.

The girl opened her mouth a little, showing reluctance. Her eyes darted between the two without settling on either. Seeing that, Dietfriet was perplexed for a moment, then started laughing. He seemed happy.

"Kill." he ordered once again, still laughing.

The girl moved her arm while still gazing and Dietfriet, robbing the last man's life. The series of murders took less than a minute altogether. Breathing heavily, she looked in their direction again. She did not speak, but her eyes inquired, "Is this enough?"

——What is this? Gilbert strongly asked himself. What? What on Earth is going on? He gulped lethargically. Is this reality?

"You got it, right? This, Gilbert… isn't just a kid. Once you figure how to use it, it can become the best weapon in the world…"

He no longer doubted his brother's words.

"But I'm scared of it."

Even though she had just killed people, the girl simply stood there, apathetically awaiting further orders.

"It follows me all the time. It sticks with whoever gives it orders. It's useful, but once I don't need it anymore, I won't be able to kill it. This is like an iron wall when it comes to its own protection. I want to use and discard it, but I can't. It has a natural talent for carnage… no, for fighting. I'll give it to you, Gilbert. Take it. Since it's female, it might give some trouble during those days of the month, but if it's you, you can pull it off, right?"

From his expression, Gilbert understood that Dietfriet was terrified of the girl from the bottom of his heart. Although he was smiling, it was strained.

"You're definitely better fit for this too."

The elder brother was pushing onto his younger one a living being that he could not handle by himself. It was for that reason he had called the latter over, with the excuse of celebrating his promotion.

"Hey… you'll take her with you, right, Gilbert?"

Again, his heart resounded unpleasantly.