Katahane no Riku

Chapter 87.Sacrificial lamb

“This is like a prison.”

When Riku had opened the door of her room, the shinigami let out a whistle, making fun of her.

It was a room that only had a bed and a table; a very simple bedroom Riku was familiar with. The coldness of the wind blowing, the floor that would make noises when one stepped onto it. Such room was impossible to be seem as the bedroom of a major general.

“The room is very small, so where can I sit down?”

“I don′t know. Why don′t you sit down on the floor? If not, you can sit on the desk if you want.”

Riku flatly said.

Normally, she would use her bed as the chairs to be sat at, but as to be expected, she didn′t want a shinigami she had never seen or known of to sit there. If it was by her, Riku actually wouldn′t let the shinigami to enter in her room. However, there was no way they could be talking at the corridor, and since there wasn′t anywhere else they could go, there were no other options other than she bringing him there.

“Now then, what is this about you granting wishes?”

After closing the door, Riku sat at the window where chilly air was coming from.

“It is in the literal meaning of the words, ojou-san.”

The shinigami immediately showed a business like smile. Taking out a bundle of papers from his pocket, the shinigami handed it to Riku. With a indifferent expression, Riku opened the scroll and read the closely packed letters written on it.

“In exchange for a soul…. right. This seems suspicious.”

Riku threw the bundle of papers back to the shinigami. The shinigami panickingly caught the paper.

“Sorry for acting all suspicious. Ojou-san, I will really be granting your wish, you know?”

“If you don′t have any proofs, I can′t believe you.”

Whatever may it be, it wasn′t possible to believe in something if there weren′t evidences to support it.

This was something she knew as well as she knew of the pain she had gone through in all her battles until now. The result for going into battles that lacked reasons backing them up was only a series of bad incidents. There was no way she could so easily agree to the proposal.

“If you don′t have any, then I will be refusing your offer.”

“Well, well, if you want any evidence, then I say it is right in front of your eyes.”

The shinigami happily smiled. Riku frowned. Only Riku and the shinigami were inside the bedroom. The few furniture that was around were all things that were there before Riku had come to live there. Besides that, they were considerably worn out.

…No matter how she looked around, she couldn′t see the so incredible object the shinigami had done his work on.

“It seems you′ve forgot.”

The shinigami′s smile was becoming more and more deeply intricate. It somewhat felt very unpleasant. Riku slightly stepped back and firmly grasped her halberd.

“What do you mean?”

“Don′t worry so much about it. For now, have a look at this.”

The shinigami took out the bundle of papers. All the way to its tip, which was yellowed because of the oldness, to its part where it was brand-new, white and bright, the scroll accumulated to the length of a dictionary. Flipping through the pages, he showed Riku a certain page.

“This is… My name?”

On there, Riku′s name was written.

No, strictly speaking, it wouldn′t be it. Although it was written with angular letters that Riku didn′t know of, she could remember about them. The letters written there were ones Riku had never seen before, so she couldn′t read them at all. But despite that, Riku had the feeling those letters were her name.

“Just as you have guessed, this is your name. …No, that′s wrong. This is the name the “another you”.”

“The another me?”

“I′ve done a contract with your another self. Well, since I collected my payment, you shouldn′t have had any memories of it.”

The shinigami giggled.

At that moment, Shibira′s words surfaced at Riku′s mind.

At that time Riku received medical care from Shibira, Riku had the feeling that Shibira had asked her to a talk with the another herself with a hint of seriousness in her expression, and she also heard that she had been [eaten].

At that time she didn′t pay mind to it, but now, this could possibly be what she was talking about.

“Is there someone else inside me?”

“Have you never thought it was weird?”

Approaching next to Riku, the shinigami started to talk in a voice that gave the feeling of viscosity.

“Why was a demon at a human town… And besides, why was that demon a high-ranked officer of the Demon Lord army?”

After being asked that by the shinigami, Riku started to think for a bit.

The port town of Perikka Riku had arrived at great pains after being thrown from the cliff was the center of commence. However, it was years later that the Demon Lord army started their moves to capture it, and if Riku′s memories were correct, there shouldn′t have been plans of doing that ten years ago.

In that case, why was Leivein and Piguro at that place?

Riku has never thought about that before, but no matter in what angle would she look at it, it was strange.

“This was your wish.”

“My wish?”

“In exchange for your soul, you were able to obtain a place to belong to.”

The shinigami started to walk around at the small bedroom.

“A place that your power would be recognized.”

Raising the sound of footsteps, the shinigami walked around the small table.

“A place that would acknowledge you, accept your strength and your red hair. And then, you would be able to take revenge on the Barusak.”

As if the shinigami was waving a conductor baton, he was waving his finger around as he spoke.

“See? I′ve granted your wish.”

“Granted? When?”

Riku let out a murderous voice that was of the extend it had even surprised her.

Indeed, she was able to obtain a place to belong to. However, this place was no more. It had been said to Riku that it was fine if she didn′t go to the next battle. Out of any battles until now, this battle was the one she wanted to be of use to Leivein the most.

“Your wish was to get a place to belong to right? A place where you can have your revenge against the Barusak. Your wish wasn′t to be of use to Leivein Adlar.”

“There is no…”

Riku ended up having to holding her tongue. She couldn′t finish saying “There is no way this was possible”.

Riku′s first wish was that she wanted to have a place she could belong to. A place that wouldn′t throw her away and that would accept her. However, it should have been only that. There definitely wasn′t any kind of conditions saying that Leivein Adlar had to accept her in the wish.

“You were able to get a position in the Demon Lord army. Your revenge against the Barusak is also doing well. Even if you can′t go to the next battle, it is impossible that your position would crumble down. Haven′t you already been recognized? Do you have anything you are unsatisfied with?”

“…”

“Yes, only getting a place to belong to is not enough. You are unsatisfied about how Leivein Adlar won′t make you into his right-wing.”

While thinking how greedy Riku was, the shinigami continued his words. And then, he started to go around the table to the other direction.

“Leivein Adlar won′t make Riku Barusak his right-wing. From the beginning, he didn′t intend on having you as a soldier when he had picked you up.”

“You are lying!”

Faster than her words, Riku′s halberd moved. The axe blade of the halberd twined around the shinigami′s neck. Stopping to walk, he looked at Riku with his eyes wide-open.

“He picked me up after seeing my power.”

“That was one of the reasons. However, the real reason for that is another one.”

The shinigami had a dubious glint on his eyes. It felt as if someone had splashed cold water on Riku′s back. The strength of the grip of her halberd somewhat increased.

“He picked you in order to have you as a sacrifice to resurrect the Demon Lord.”

“…I′ve heard that only the blood of the royalty is necessary as a sacrifice for that though?”

While strenuously working her memories out, Riku asked the shinigami.

It was necessary to sacrifice blood in order to resurrect the Demon Lord. That′s why Riku and the others abducted the royal princess. The reason for them to have ventured to the center of the enemy territory was solely for this reason.

“You see, for the sake of dispelling the seal, it is necessary to have the blood of the people that sealed him. That′s why it is necessary to have the blood of the royalty.”

“I know that.”

“Quite sharp. The one to seal the Demon Lord was the king, but it wasn′t only him that casted the spell.”

“…Could it be…”

Riku′s eyes became wide-open.

The only ones to have talent for demon banning arts were spiritualists. It was impossible for the king to use such demon banning technique by himself. In other words…

“The sacrifice is the blood of the royalty and of the “four spiritualist families”. And besides that, it needs to be the blood a direct descendant.”

“The four spiritualist families.”

It was the Bernaal house, the Bistolru house, the Buryuuser house and the Barusak house.

It has already become more than ten years that Riku had learned about this. The Bernaal house, Bistolru house and the Buryuuser house had adopted talented children from other families at some point in time, and after the head of their family became someone from their branch families, their direct bloodline became extinct.

From what Riku knew, out of the four spiritualist families, there was only one that kept direct descendants.

“The sacrifice is a direct descendant of the Barusak. What Leivein Adlar desired wasn′t you, but the blood of the Barusak.”

The words of the shinigami weighed onto Riku.

From its core, everything Riku believed in crumbled down to pieces. Riku′s teeth started to clatter.

“By having you nearby, it would be possible to immediately use you as the sacrifice. If he had disciplined you better, this would have been even more the case. Rather, you would have wanted to happily become the sacrifice. However… You brought Rook Barusak.”

Rook Barusak had inherited more Barusak blood than Riku, and right now, he was tied up and couldn′t fight back. Even after the Demon Lord was resurrected, Riku Barusak could still keep fighting as a soldier of the Demon Lord army. In a more objective perspective, it would mean that Riku Barusak still had usage value. That was why rather than using Riku Barusak for the sacrifice, it would be better to use Rook Barusak.

“But if that is the case, then it is strange.”

Narrowing her eyes, Riku intensely glared at the shinigami. And then, as if blowing away all of her fear, word by word, she bluntly refuted.

“In that case, this would mean that during these ten years… everybody from the Demon Lord army has been deceiving me.”

In Leivein′s case, he would probably be able to fool Riku.

Similarly, there was no doubt Piguro would be able to deceive Riku too.

However, would Vrusto be able to do so? Asty and Rudogar Gortoberuk had a personality which made everything they would think about show on their faces. Riku couldn′t imagine them being able to have things hidden from her.

Other than that, it would be Edgar Zerrik. He looked at Riku with eyes of grudge. At the time at Sherr island, he seemed happy that Riku was heading to a place she probably wouldn′t be able to make it back from.

“I am not stupid to the point that I wouldn′t suspect of anything if I really was being brought up for the sake of being sacrificed.”

“That′s right. Almost everyone doesn′t know about this.”

The shinigami declared without hesitation. Slowly moving away the halberd from his neck with his hand, he approached Riku.

“The ones that knew about the truth of you being a sacrifice among the Demon Lord army, or even the dragon race, would be only the already deceased Charlotte Demonz, and also Leivein Adlar.”

Piguro was the one that ordered Riku to abduct the royal princess. However, the one to have given those orders for Piguro to say was Charlotte.

“You were lucky.”

Before Riku could notice, the shinigami came right in front of her nose.

“If Leivein continued in coma, you wouldn′t have been able to resurrect the Demon Lord and would have died at that place. While you are wasting time here, the spiritualists are preparing for their trap.”

The shinigami patted Riku′s shoulder as he loudly laughed.

If the shinigami′s words were correct, then Riku had been about to die. Just by sacrificing the princess wouldn′t be enough to resurrect the Demon Lord. Perhaps they would receive an attack from the spiritualists while they were distracted about the issue.

“Now then, living sacrifice.”

The black feathers filled Riku′s sight.

At that moment, Riku′s view became dyed in complete darkness. Whether she looked to the right, whether she looked to the left, or even if she looked anywhere else, everything was completely dark. At the darkness which one couldn′t see even an inch ahead, only the shinigami′s sweet and deep voice echoed.

“What could it be that you desire?”

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