#me when amostia first appearance

[shaba-the-art]

Seven Crimes and Punishments

Happy 10th anniversary to the album and story!

[outlawandlychgate]

Chapter 3-Funeral Procession of the Dead; Scene 2

Outlaw & Lychgate, pages 48-58

The land that had once been Retasan Fortress.

Seth and Lich spotted the crew of undead walking along in a procession nearby.

“…There they are. The Outlaws,” Lich murmured as he got down from the carriage alongside Seth.

Dead soldiers were largely beings without capacity for reason, yet the Outlaws appeared to be heading somewhere in a single-file line with distinctly organized movements.

“It’s like they’re a funeral procession.” After voicing his thoughts, Seth turned to look at Lich’s face. “I suppose I ought to ask what our resident expert thinks of this scene. Hey, Lich.”

“…Someone is controlling the Outlaws. At this point the only person who could make the dead soldiers move like that is Lady Banica, I would think—”

“But it isn’t her.”

“—Then there are two other possibilities I can think of. An ‘inheritor’ who has the power of ‘Gluttony’, or else…the ‘boy’ that you’ve spoken of.”

“An ‘inheritor’…It’s been a while since I’ve heard that term.”

By all rights, the only people who could wield a demon’s power were those who had contracted with that demon.

But in this world there was the rare person who would have demonic powers from birth.

In the days when the magic users of Levianta called these people “inheritors” they were worshipped, and still at times also feared and discriminated against.

For example, Irina Clockworker.

While being a clone of Seth, she was also an “inheritor” of the powers of “Greed”, and so was able to cast blue flames.

And then there was the people of the Loop Octopus clan.

The whole family line, such as the head of the Leviantan senate and his descendants, would periodically have prophetic dreams called “purple dreams”. This was because they were “inheritors” of “Envy”.

Other “inheritors” had shown up in history several times before, such as Mikhail Asayev, the instigator of the “New Four Horsemen Incident”.

But as for an “inheritor” with the power of “Gluttony”…

Seth had never so much as heard a rumor of one, in all the long years he’d wandered this world.

It was the same for Lich.

“Still…There may be someone who had the power of an ‘inheritor’ but went their whole lives without using it.”

There was something Seth found hard to grasp in Lich’s theory. “If that were the case…Why would they start using their power this late in the game?”

“Who knows…What do you think of the other candidate?”

“The ‘boy’?...” As far as Seth knew, he didn’t have that kind of power. “I don’t think so.”

“But do you think that he’s involved in this matter?”

“Yes. So it’s likely that the ‘boy’ and this person controlling the group—”

“Have joined forces?”

“It would appear so.”

There was no point in endlessly debating over it here.

Whatever the case, for now the two of them decided to tag along with the procession.

“Could you wait for us here?” Lich asked the coachman.

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

“I don’t think it’ll take very long, but…if we haven’t come back by sundown please head back to the palace by yourself and let the King know.”

“Understood—Well then, stay safe.”

.

It wasn’t clear if the Outlaws could see Lich and Seth or not, but at any rate they didn’t appear to pay them any particular mind, steadily moving on ahead.

Judging by their direction, their goal seemed to be the ruins of Retasan fortress.

“They’re quite slow…How about we try going ahead of the procession?”

Lich nodded at Seth’s suggestion. “There’s no need for us to tag along at the back of the line. And perhaps the person controlling the group is at the very front.”

The two of them slipped by the line, aiming for the head.

Midway there, Seth stopped and pointed at the procession.

“Hey, Lich, look there.”

Inside the line it seemed there were Outlaws carrying a long black box.

“It’s just big enough for someone to be inside—It looks like a coffin. I guess it really is a funeral procession.”

“I wonder whose corpse is…Actually, I suppose there’s not even necessarily a person in there.”

“Shall we take a peek? We may be souls but I’m sure we can at least move the lid a little.”

“…No way. We’re going to head to the front first without needlessly provoking them.”

“Alright, alright.”

Lich began to walk towards the front again, paying no mind to Seth’s apparent reluctance to leave.

.

They reached the head of the line, but the Outlaw walking at the front appeared no different from the rest.

“Doesn’t look much like the leader.” Lich appeared a bit disappointed, but when he turned to look at where the procession was going, the color of his expression changed. “That’s…”

He could see a mansion with red walls.

It looked like that was where they were headed.

“You recognize that building?” Seth asked.

“I’ve never been there myself. But it…looks very much like the mansion Lady Banica conjured with her imagination…based on the one she’d had in life.”

“My my—Then maybe Banica’s the ringleader of all this after all?”

“It can’t be…I never heard anything about it from her.”

“In that case maybe it’s just that she doesn’t have a lot of confidence in y—”

“Let’s check it out,” Lich interrupted, dashing off towards the mansion.

“Hey, I wouldn’t think you’re that sort of character…Well, this is fine too. This is Lich’s true self that only I know…Ha ha.”

Seth chased after Lich, a half smile on his face.

.

On first glance there was no one inside the mansion.

But given that the building existed like this—there must have been someone to have conjured it up.

Seth and Lich split up to search every room.

.

--In no time at all.

When Seth opened the door labeled “Head Chamberlain’s Quarters”, he spotted a single man quietly sitting inside.

He looked like a dead soldier, but had a slightly different atmosphere than the others.

“…What is it? I’m in the middle of my break right now,” he said, his eyes clearly carrying a spark of reason in them.

“Ho, so you can see me.”

“…I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at.”

“Well, whatever—Hey, Lich!” Seth loudly called for Lich. “This way, he’s in here!”

.

Lich appeared after a few moments.

“This is—”

“Most likely the leader of the Outlaws.”

Lich stood before the dead soldier and asked, “What is your name?”

“Ron Grapple. I am a chamberlain who serves the Conchita family.”

“…Ah. But from what I can see, there’s no one in this mansion but you.”

“Indeed, it would appear so. Everyone else has already passed on, after all.”

“So then what exactly are you doing here?”

“I…must show my mourning. For the final owner of this mansion—Lady Banica.”

“--!?”

Lich’s eyes opened wide for a moment.

“By doing so, her spirit will be released…And the curse upon me will also be lifted.”

“Curse?”

“I was once cursed by two dreadful twins. A curse that means I can never die—Even if I become a dead soldier, and my body rots away…As time passes I am resurrected, again and again.”

“…”

“At first I lost my sanity, just like the others. But eventually, little by little, I regained the conscious mind I had in life…and became able to control the other dead soldiers.”

“Hmm, that’s quite interesting…But why were you cursed in the first place?”

“Curse…curse…” Ron suddenly covered his face with his hands, bending over. “The twins’ curse…No, much earlier than that…The curse of the Baemu—No! It all started…On that day. My father…Aybee, using his ‘inheritor’ powers, turned me into—I have always been his puppet! Without being conscious of it I hired those twins…And then the Baemu…I was forced to slip it in with the other gifts…Ohh…Ouuugh…”

Finally he started to sob, bursting into tears.

Seth stood before Lich and murmured, “He appears very distraught…Perhaps we ought to change the subject.”

“…Right.”

Lich crouched down and locked eyes with Ron. “—Are you alright?”

“Y…yes…I apologize. I lost my composure there.”

“Let’s not talk about the past, but rather what’s going on right now, shall we? Before we came here we saw a group of dead soldiers carrying a coffin…Are they yours?”

“—Yes. They are bringing it here under my instruction. To hold a funeral service for Lady Banica.”

“So then inside the coffin is—”

“Lady Banica’s corpse is laid out inside. It was recovered from the ground under the directions of another.”

--There was a massive flaw in his explanation.

As far as Seth knew (and Lich likely knew as well), before her death Banica’s last act had been to eat herself.

Her dead body couldn’t possibly still exist somewhere.

Someone had lied to this Ron.

And the true identity of the fiend deceiving him would be--

--The ‘boy’.

Seth cut in between Lich and Ron, “Where is the person who gave you those directions now?”

“He’s—”

In that moment.

The room was suddenly filled with a dazzling light.

“—You don’t need to say it, Ron.” A child’s voice came from within the light. “If you’re talking about me…I’m already here.”

Seth cried out to the light—to the ‘boy’, “So it’s you—Amostia!”

“…Well well, if it isn’t my dear father.”

“Indeed. But…You seem to have changed quite a bit, haven’t you.”

“I have, you are correct. I am no longer—the ‘boy’ that you once knew.”

.

--So it was true.

It was as he’d thought.

The theory that Seth had in his mind was becoming a conviction.

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