Chapter 16: The Devil Wears Red Shoes-1
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Somewhere dark and deep, like the abyssal sea.
A woman dressed in pure white was looking at the wall blocking her path. No, to be precise, she was looking beyond that wall.
The woman in pure white was none other than Cinderella.
"Beautiful..."
"Princess? It is time to wake up."
When she came to after being Corrupted, she was trapped somewhere, with a wall that looked like a mirror standing in her way.
Through that mirror, she saw many things, despaired, and screamed.
She had hurt her comrades.
"No!!! Stop it!!! Don’t!!!!"
No matter how much she screamed or pounded on it, her body, as if mocking her helplessness, brutally attacked her comrades instead.
As time passed, her mind grew ever more worn down, until she wished someone would kill her and put an end to this agony.
But that thought changed.
"Ahh...."
"Think you can do it? Ha ha!"
Like a prince who had come to save the princess, some man began to toy with Anachiro as he attacked her.
"Ten percent."
Crackle!
"Ggghhh!!!"
Perhaps... perhaps that person could save her from this place. Hope began to bloom within her.
And now—
"Ughhh!!!"
"No! No!"
Anachiro was pushing herself up, trying to escape. We were so close! So close!
The prince and his companions had barely succeeded in subduing Anachiro. But was it going to end this pointlessly? Seeing no way out, Cinderella stamped her feet in frustration.
Should she break this mirror? But she couldn’t? What was she supposed to do? What could she do?
"Cinderella!!"
Huh?
Just before those thoughts could bind her again—
"I’m sorry!!!"
Along with approaching red lips, those thoughts shattered.
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"R-R-R-R-Rukh??? What are you d-d-d-doing?!"
"I’ll kill you!! I’ll kill you!! I’m going to kill you!!!"
"Whoa! Whoaaaa!!!"
"B-B-B-B-Beeep!!!"
"Holy shit, the kissing scene is insane."
Voices full of surprise, rage, and rabble-rousing(?) rang out from all directions.
And how was I, the person actually involved?
Flustered+++!!!
I felt like I was losing my mind!!!
The thought that I wanted to save Cinderella had chomped down on my reason like an apple, so I’d charged straight in without hesitation!!
"Mmph... mmph...."
"Mmph!!! Mmmph!!!"
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
That hurt!
Anachiro resisted, driving her hard arms into my sides until they stung like hell. But I couldn’t be sure my blood had gotten into her, so—
Squeeze.
"Y-Y-Y-YOU!! Hey!!! Where do you think you’re putting your hands?!"
"Ohhh yeah."
I wrapped my arms around Cinderella’s waist.
It would take time to fully remove NIMPH, the crucial component infected by the Corruption. So—
"I’ll kill youuuu!!! I’ll beat you until dust comes off you on a rainy day!!!"
"Heh, the bastard’s a real man."
Tap.
This was so embarrassing... I felt like I was going to die, but!!!
"Mmph... mmmh!!!?"
"..."
I pressed the back of Cinderella’s head and pulled her tightly against me. Behind us, groans, sharp intakes of breath, and Abe’s screams grew even louder.
I’m sorry, Mother...
Then that moment, which had felt like a year, came to an end, and I carefully pulled away from Cinderella.
What met my eyes were not the pomegranate-red eyes from before, but sky-blue ones. A beautiful woman, her face flushed red, was looking up at me.
A silvery thread stretched between our lips.
That was... my first kiss...
"Ah...."
"Welcome back, Princess..."
Grab.
Smooooooch!!!!
"K-K-KISS???????!!!?!??!?"
"Mmm.... Just... just a little more..."
Emergency situation!! Emergency situation!!! Air-raid warning!!! Air-raid warning!!!!
Before I could even maintain the act and welcome Cinderella back from Corruption, she suddenly grabbed me by the collar and—
rammed her lips into mine...!!
"Yooooouuuuu!!!!"
Baaaaam!!!!
"Ghk."
Not long after, Abe came running over and hit me with a hectopascal kick, bringing the pink, lovey-dovey atmosphere to an end.
"Get over here! Are you not coming over here?! Huh?!!"
"A-Abe, calm down!!"
"W-W-W-Wow////"
Abe was trying to kill me, Cinderella was stopping her, and Mori, her face bright red, was watching Bippy and me.
Hahahaha... what a goddamn mess.
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"........"
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The operation to retrieve Cinderella had come to a close, and we were on our way to Abe’s laboratory.
Most of the government troops in the area had either died or been injured in the aftermath of the battle, making it the perfect time to escape. We laid the Old Tales members in the truck and floored the clutch with all our might.
Since one truck wasn’t enough to carry everyone, we commandeered a relatively intact armored vehicle nearby and were riding in that as well.
As for yours truly, I was so exhausted I was practically lying down in the passenger seat.
Oh, Mori was driving, and Janghwa was driving the vehicle behind us carrying the Old Tales members.
".....Cinderella..."
"Yes...."
Abe and Cinderella were sitting gloomily in the back.
"Hey, we won. Why are you two so down?"
Eclipse, enough!
"Your name is..."
"Ah, I’m Rukh."
"Right, Rukh..."
Creak.
I reclined my seat and made eye contact with Abe.
"What’s the problem? Why do you both look like you’re about to die?"
".....I’m truly grateful that you saved Cinderella from Corruption. But..."
Abe furrowed her brow as though searching for the right words, then let out a breath and continued.
"The fact that Cinderella hurt people won’t change. Even if she escaped Corruption, the Central Government will try to capture us."
"It was not me, but Anachiro... who did it. But that is only an excuse, Prince. It isn’t beautiful..."
The gloomy atmosphere became even gloomier. Mori kept sneaking glances toward the back at their words. Mori, you need to watch the road, right? Yes, yes!
After giving Mori a reminder, I carefully moved to the back seat and—
Hug!
"P-Prince?"
"It’s okay. This isn’t your fault."
I embraced Cinderella. Corruption was truly horrific. The original mind remained alive, but the body lost control as though possessed, and eventually died.
"But... but..."
"The real blame lies with the traitor who planted the Corruption."
"What?!" "Huh?!" "What do you mean...?"
At my bombshell, Abe, Mori, and Cinderella respectively let out sharp cries. Ow, my ears.
"A traitor? I-I’m not one!!"
Mori, what are you talking about?
"Hey... what do you mean? A traitor...?"
"There are two methods of Corruption."
Flick.
I held up two fingers.
"The first is a direct attack by a Rapture. Have you heard of Ultra?"
"More than heard of it. I already have its data stored."
"Wow?"
Wow, as expected of genius Abe. She really was different.
"Then what’s the other method?"
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Abe frowned, adjusted her glasses, and rested a hand on her chin.
"Corruption... I’m not certain, but I understand that it enters NIMPH—the NIKKE’s brain component—and infects it like a virus. To do that, someone would need to know the Corruption code well... and they could target her during maintenance..."
Judging by her expression, she’d finally gotten it.
Perhaps startled by the words she had just spoken, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake shook Abe’s pupils. Cinderella’s fingertips trembled faintly as well, as though she understood too.
">The person responsible for maintaining Old Tales and a researcher—a person with knowledge equal to yours, Abe, and one who handles Corruption code—is..."
"P-Prince, wait... are you saying..."
"Red Shoes... was the one who did that to Cinderella?"
Once the answer was spoken, I had no choice but to nod.
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And so we returned to the laboratory.
Abe went to repair the injured Old Tales members, while Mori,
Janghwa, Bippy, and I rested in one of the remaining rooms.
Cinderella went to wait for her comrades to wake up.
"I... I really thought I was going to die today."
"I agree, Mori."
"Exactly..."
So give me the bed!! It’s my spot!!!
Like children, Mori and I had somehow started fighting over who got to lie on the bed. I was tired to death, damn it.
"Seriously, seriously! I almost died today because of that Glass-whatever thing!!"
"Oh dear, I... I.... Uh...."
What the hell did I do? I can’t remember?
"What do you mean, what did you do?! You... you.... You did that! Th-th-th-that! You kissed!!"
At Mori’s words, Cinderella’s and my faces instantly heated up. Th-th-that was!!
"Yes, an opening."
Hop.
Seizing the chance while I was speechless, Mori jumped onto the bed like a rabbit. Grrr.
But when I thought about it, Mori’s personality seemed to have changed a lot. The protagonist’s group was originally supposed to be like this, but still... it was better than being consumed by nihilism.
"Have it your way~ Get plenty of rest, because you’ll be training with Janghwa again."
"What??!! Didn’t I do well, Janghwa?!"
Was that really so?! Well then, Janghwa, what do you think after hearing your junior’s opinion?
Leaning against the wall, Janghwa blinked a few times at being called on so suddenly, then smiled and spoke.
"Hmm... It was a little disappointing, maybe? But you did well, Mori."
"Yes! You heard that, right? I did wel—!"
"But the training will not stop."
Ah. Mori froze stiff. Kyaahaha, joy and sorrow had crossed in an instant!!!
"Aaaand... Rukh? Could I see you for a moment?"
Me?
Who? Me? Moi?
Uh.... I didn’t do anything wrong...?
Seeing an illusion of red aura flaring up behind Janghwa, I hurriedly rose to my feet.
Left alone with Bippy, Mori scratched the back of her head awkwardly and asked:
"...What do you think it is, Bippy?"
"Beepoo..."
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Boom!!
"Holy shit?!"
"....Rukh."
"Y-Yes...?"
Janghwa drove me against the wall, then slammed her arm hard into the wall beside me, blocking off my escape.
It was the quintessential wall-slam pose from a romance story. My heart fluttered, and at the same time, the unfamiliar sight of Janghwa acting this way made me swallow hard.
"Did you like it?"
"E-Excuse me?"
"I asked if you liked it."
"Wow...."
Janghwa’s eyes had turned into their worn-out version, glaring at me from the depths of an abyss.
I-I’m sorry, but I really have no idea what I did wrong! Really!!
"Rukh, I’m asking you."
"Uh.... What... do you mean?"
"....What an oblivious idiot."
At the sight of Rukh, who had not a shred of awareness, Eclipse clicked his tongue. Then, apparently wondering whether there was a spare body, he vanished into the wall.
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Fortunately, all the Old Tales members were repaired successfully. There was just one problem.
"I-I’m sorry, Cinderella. Cough, just give me a little time... Cough!"
"....I think Hansel and Gretel need time."
Because of their memories of the battle, most of them avoided contact with Cinderella.
"Sigh...."
"Cinderella...."
"Time will help."
"Red Shoes..."
Seeing Red Shoes approach her, Abe bit the inside of her cheek. Was it really you...? Were you the one who did this to Cinderella... who made Cinderella and all of us this way?
Red Shoes looked at Cinderella with pitying eyes before opening her mouth.
"...Come to think of it, Abe, you said there was a helper?"
"Yes..."
"Could I meet Cinderella and that helper for a moment?"
"....? Why Rukh?"
"R-Rukh? Ah... that person’s name is Rukh..."
Grin.
For an instant, the corners of Red Shoes’ lips rose as she wore the expression of a cat that had found a mouse.
"Cinderella? Shall we have a little talk together? With that helper as well."
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Whew, thankfully Cinderella called for me, so I was able to get away from Janghwa.
"....You’d better watch out tonight later."
"What on earth are you talking about?"
"Didn’t you see Janghwa’s eyes...? Never mind."
And to continue, when I arrived where Cinderella had called me, Red Shoes was waiting with a pleasant smile on her face.
God, that made me feel sick.
To put it briefly, Red Shoes was a fucking piece of fucking shit.
Why?
She was the one who planted Corruption in innocent NIKKEs while harboring the warped ideal that humans and Raptures should coexist.
"Heh. No wonder that bitch had such a fucked-up face."
Right?
Click.
"Drink up, Cinderella. It’s the same tea you drank that day. Ah, would you wait a moment?"
Click.
Red Shoes looked at me and, with that pleasant smile, set a cup of tea in front of me. Blegh.
"Do you remember everything from when you were Corrupted?"
Starting with Red Shoes’ question, things proceeded much like the original story. Talk of personality segregation, temptation and threats, and then—
"Ahh... I-I seeee...."
Tremble, tremble, tremble.
Her hand began to shake like an aspen, gripped by excitement. But was it just my imagination? Why did she keep glancing at me?
"Red Shoes. What are you so happy about?"
"Pardon?"
"I asked what you’re so happy about."
Perhaps Cinderella had sensed something strange as well, because she asked with a stern expression.
"Ah, well... Corruption is practically something I raised myself."
"What...?"
Heh, that piece of trash was finally showing her true colors. Everyone? This is what a high priest of V.T.C. looks like. Completely unrecyclable garbage.
As I waited for the future where she would be turned into a donut, I took a sip of tea. Ugh, bitter.
....But why was she glaring at me?
"You... haven’t changed, have you? Rukh?"
"No.... Should I call you this instead?"
"Samael’s medic?"
"Cough!!"
"What? Hey, what kind of bullshit is she spouting?!"
At her words, I ended up putting on a brief fountain show. No, no—more importantly, that bitch... knew my name?
"Sama... el? What are you talking about, Red Shoes?"
"Ha ha... ahahaha.... Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!"
Red Shoes laughed until tears streamed down her face. She doubled over and let out breathy, choking laughs. Feeling something was wrong, Cinderella hid me behind [Glass Slipper].
"Hahaha!! Ah... forgive me... I’m just... just so happy."
"Do you know me?"
"Prince!"
As I stepped out from behind [Glass Slipper], Cinderella scolded me and tried to push me behind it again.
Ignoring that, Red Shoes continued without losing her smile.
"Samael’s medic... yes... the one who turned a person bearing that name into a Rapture named Rukh—"
was me. I made you.
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