The smell of burned flesh filled the room, and a gaping, ashy wound opened as Capella was knocked backward. Licking the wound with a long, snakelike tongue, the monster grinned.
"Buhe, eb'n 'ough it 'as one of 'our 'om'ades'…even though it was your own comrade's face, you didn't hold back at all."
Her scorched face re-formed as she was talking, her speech unnaturally recovering partway through. Ignoring any pain she might have felt, Capella's eyes flashed as she looked at the bed in the back of the room.
The long-haired woman who was supposed to be lying there unconscious pointed her palm at Capella—
"I was about to wonder if maybe she hadn't lost to the blood, but who the hell are you?"
"You're awfully pompous for an uninvited guest. If you're gonna ask like that, though, then—"
The woman who had been lying in bed in Crusch Karsten's place smiled elegantly as her long wavy hair fell down her back.
"I'm Anastasia Hoshin. The proxy representative for this city at the moment."
"Well, you're awfully cruel, aren't you? Burning your own friend's face? And without even a moment of hesitation."
Anastasia puffed out her chest as Capella touched her entirely restored face. This time her face was not that of Crusch but her original face.
"We're not friends." Anastasia shook her head. "We're business rivals… or rather, competitors. I ain't gonna hold back just 'cause you decided to copy her face for a hot moment."
"So then aiming for the face was just venting your spleen a bit at your future enemy?"
"I don't mix business and private matters. I just aimed for the head 'cause I hoped you might die if I crushed it is all."
Capella's head had been almost completely blown away, but that was hardly enough to kill her. Anastasia sighed when she saw that Capella was indeed alive and well.
"I had my hopes up, but unfortunately it looks like that didn't do it." "You're pretty extreme! Burning away a woman's face without hesitation? That hyper-logical selfishness! You're truly a rotten mass of female flesh after my own heart!"
"I can't say I'm all that happy with your favor. I prefer the attentions of the furry and fluffy types."
Anastasia's calm didn't crack even in the face of Capella's insulting speech. Her response to an Archbishop's over-the-top commentary and actions was not that different from how she would deal with a rude and vicious customer.
"It sure feels like you were lying in wait for me. Even though you shouldn't have had any reason to think I was coming."
"—? What are you talking about? You heard Natsuki's performance, right? I was sure you would come if you heard that. Since your personality is the absolute worst."
"Heh."
"To win as a merchant means not letting your opponent do what they want while also managing to do what you want. I just applied the same idea to fighting."
And she had believed that Lust, out of all the Archbishops in the city, was particularly prone to that sort of reaction.
With that analysis in hand, Anastasia had set a trap and waited for Capella to attack city hall. Naturally, the real Crusch and the other wounded people had been moved to a different shelter for the time being.
The only ones left in the building were Ferris and Anastasia in that room, and—
"Everyone else is so upstanding, so it turned out that Princess and I were maybe the only ones who noticed."
"So since your head actually works, you stayed back and waited for me… and you were right on the money. But are you maybe looking down on me a bit too much, little lady? Neither that kitten over there nor you look like you've really got what it takes to tangle with me."
"Aw, you're going to make me blush. Despite how it looks, I am a bit on the older side, you know?"
Anastasia put her hand to her cheek as Capella licked her lips. Her mouth curled as she felt a twinge of suspicion at how confident Anastasia was behaving.
"I wonder if you'll still look that composed when you're a worm from the neck down? Why don't we find out?"
"That sounds scary… Maybe we could use a little space."
" "
Capella was stunned for a moment at Anastasia's rejection, but she quickly understood that there was a reason for why Anastasia was so composed and why she had been lying in wait.
"I said I knew you were coming, right? There's no merchant in the world who would dare to not prepare a proper welcome for an expected guest." Saying that, Anastasia tapped the floor lightly with her toenail.
There were two sharp clicks, as if it were a signal—and then the spot underneath Capella cracked, and she fell down a story through the collapsing floor.
The floor below had a matching hole, and Capella passed through that, too, descending to the very bottom of the building in one massive fall before finally slamming into the ground of the basement beneath the first floor.
Capella's body splattered audibly. Smacking helplessly against the cold, hard ground, her childlike body deformed and ruptured.
But that lasted only a few seconds—
"Kya-ha-ha-ha! What was that?! Amazing! You sure know how to throw a party!"
Ignoring all concepts like mortal wounds or anything of the sort, Capella just burst into laughter at the surprising result. Lying in wait, burning her face, dropping her down a long shaft to splatter against the ground. Despite enduring all that, there seemed to be a genuine pleasure and excitement in her laughter.
It was a damp, dark, cold room. It was less like a basement and more like the sewer network strung out under the city. An access point for inspections or something like that.
Hearing the sound of flowing water from nearby and feeling a breeze blowing across her body, Capella looked up at the ceiling to the point high above where she had been dropped from.
"Such an intense welcome. It's almost enough to set a fire underneath my freely sized breasts. I'll have to get back quick and hold you oh so close. I'll train you nice and sweet, so you won't be able to love anyone other than me…"
"You ain't goin' back."
Someone else spoke as Capella's cheeks reddened, and she quivered in excitement.
It was a low, husky, listless man's voice. Capella spun around and saw someone emerge from the darkness. An intense look of disgust crossed her face.
"My aesthetics won't let me hold back against someone who tries to hide their own hideousness."
"That so? Don't worry—my aesthetics aren't really interested in holding back against you, either."
He sighed as if just looking at Capella was making him depressed. "You heard up there, right? Our own nasty group saw right through you. We almost knew what you were going to do before you did. And when it comes to
nastiness, there isn't anyone who can beat my princess."
The solemn sound of a sword slowly being drawn from its sheath echoed in the basement as he said that. The curved sword slipped free of its bindings, dimly reflecting his figure in the murky shadows.
A one-armed man stood there. A figure in a black helm. A foreigner with an odd appearance. He pointed the Liuyedao toward Capella—
"We just met, but unfortunately, I'm in a bad mood today, so get your ass out of here before I die, damn mollusk."