“Haru…”
Tomoe tries to calm Haru down but her words fall on deaf ears.
“Don’t listen to her! She’s just trying to shift the blame off of Gleam!”
Desperate, she looks to her allies but finds scant little. Jessica’s face is unreadable, Tomoe seems less than proud, and even Tsuki’s smile is tainted by flecks of tension.“A-and–”
Haru clears her throat.“What you’re really saying is that because Tsumugi wasn’t in Takakumo, she’s a suspect, right?!”
“In essence, yes.”
“Then Gleam should also be on the list of suspects! That’s why she’s here, isn’t it?!”
Haru jabs her finger at Kuroko.
“Councilors.”
Kuroko calmly adjusts her tie.
“This is no more than classic whataboutism.”
“That is true… but her argument does hold water.”Tomoe raises a thin smile at Kuroko, like she’s apologizing for dragging her into this whole mess. Then, with that thin apology still on her face, she continues her assault.
“After all, she is the one who benefits the most from Lady Kentomi’s death. Perhaps a little evidence that Lady Gleam is, without a shadow of a doubt, innocent will help to ease Hamamoto’s worries.”
“...”
There’s a moment of silence as Kuroko stoops down and retrieves her briefcase. Two clicks, a creak, and it opens. Haru thinks she spots the glint of a typewriter’s keys. Kuroko retrieves a single piece of paper methodically tucked away in a paper envelope and begins to read aloud.
“This is a direct message from Lady Gleam herself. I was instructed to read it aloud if doubts were cast on her”
She clears her throat.
“My fellow councilors, I give you my word that without a shadow of a doubt, I am innocent.”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“...Forgive me but is that it?”
Lady Tomoe is the first to break the silence. Everyone else is, assumedly, stunned from the sheer stupidity of it all. Kuroko looks the piece of paper up and down, left and right, inside and out, but nothing.
“Yes.”
“Oh for…”
Nui is suddenly on her feet.
“I’d like to move to adjourn the meeting.”
“On what grounds?”
Nui lifts up the cup she was drinking out of and shows everyone the tea dregs.“The tea leaves… they um…”
She stops and thinks for a moment.“They foretell unfortunate tidings. Yes. It is my belief that it is Lady Tsubame… is… um… sending us a message from beyond the grave.”
“...I see.”
Tomoe nods to herself.
“Then very well.”
“HAAAAAAAH?!”
Haru can’t keep her voice to herself. She stares incredulously at Tomoe, like she just suggested that they all suddenly drop down to all fours and live like animals from now on. Now that they’ve suddenly turned the tables on Gleam, she’s going to have her bury her head like an ostrich.
“Y-you can’t be serious…”
“I believe we’ve made significant headway into the issues we’ve discussed. We can pick up the rest at a later date.”
“I second the motion.”
Tsuki chimes in like anyone asked her to.
“It’s getting late.”
She throws in the loudest yawn Haru’s ever heard in her life as well for good measure.
“Wait! We haven’t even discussed how Tsumugi’s going to get home.”
“Oh yeah. I kinda forgot we needed to talk about that.”
Tsuki reclines in her chair.
“I think it’s pointless… but do y’all think we could hear her out anyway?”
“Very well.”
Nui wipes the sweat off of her brow with a handkerchief.“Please, make your case.”
“There’s no reason to question her. Lady Tsumugi is innocent.”“Alright, do you have any evidence?”
“I was with her at the time of Lady Kentomi’s murder.”“Do you have any evidence of that?”“Tsk, evidence this, evidence that! I don’t have any reason to lie, now do I?”
“Actually.”
Kuroko butts in. She flips through the
“To elaborate on what was mentioned prior, it is Lady Gleam’s belief that with the marked… incompetence, of Tsumugi’s standing army, it is more likely that she collaborated with a third party to have Kentomi killed.”“Wh– You’re saying I killed her and had the stones to walk in here? To the lion’s den? The belly of the beast? The fucking 9th circle of hell?”
Well, she’s not entirely wrong. If, theoretically, Haru did kill someone, she would have absolutely no problem having dinner with the grieving family afterwards.“Hamamoto.”
Tomoe traces the rim of her wine glass with her fingers.
“Perhaps that’s enough for now. I sense that we aren’t making any progress this way.”
“...”
“If you’re unsatisfied, perhaps we can go over your grievances in the garden?”
“...fine.”
Previous Chapter
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Corpse March Chapter 23
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Corpse March Chapter 24
She should know. After all, the only reason she was born was because of an accident. “That’s a rather depressing way to look at it.”“The way I see it, the way you look at it is much more depressing. All those lives lost, all those memories, all those moments. They all inevitably turn to dust. It’s much easier to lose something that’s worthless, no?”“I suppose.”“I can tell by the sound of your voice that you don’t agree with me.”Tomoe sighs. “True enough. I suppose that’s the difference between watching lives be taken and taking lives.”“You can tell?”“I’m not ignorant to the ways of the outside world. I know what your kind’s done with the magic you stole. You built cities to escape the laws of the jungle only to turn your cities into jungles where the strongest thrive and the weak are exploited anyway.”“And what’s wrong with that?”“You humans. Always so ready to tear each others’ throats out. I remember a time, no matter how brief, where all humans worked together against a c
Corpse March Chapter 25
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Corpse March Chapter 26
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Corpse March Chapter 27
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Corpse March Chapter 28
It’s a quiet night for the Deathless stationed at the wall surrounding Takakumo. Just like any other night. One of them scratches under her face plate. She has been for the past three hours. Getting stuck with the night watch sucks, and this is the second week in the row her squad’s had to put up with it. Still, if it ever comes down to it, they’re the only thing standing between Takakumo and the outside world so they stick it out. One of the Deathless walk over to the table where they’re keeping their radio equipment and tunes in to the frequency of Lady Gleam’s camp. “Squad 8 reporting. Front gate is clear, Lady Gleam.”Then, out of nowhere, the darkness of night is broken by the blinding brightness of a pair of headlights. They can barely make out the silhouette of a train, a Monarchian train. Everyone stands still, fearful that even the smallest movement will sic the metal beast on them. Then, the silence breaks. “NOT CLEAR, NOT CLEAR! I REPEAT, NOT CLEAR! MONARCHIAN TRANSPORT
Corpse March Chapter 29
Kuroko revs her motorcycle engine as she catches up to the train. The cold nighttime wind stings her eyes but she barely feels the pain. “All units disengage, I’ll take it from here.”“Wait. Something’s off. They’re not using Magitech weapons.”“We have our orders.”“I said WAIT!”As soon as she’s close enough, Kuroko suddenly leaps from her motorcycle onto the top of the rearmost train car. Her shoes make loud thuds as she lands. Loud enough to announce to the people inside that someone’s here. “ON THE ROOF!”She hears the orders being barked from below. A second later, bullet holes begin to open all around her. Kuroko does not hesitate. She conjures a bundle of string connecting her to the edge of the roof before jumping off the train’s side. Kuroko uses the strings to swing herself through the train window and into the train car proper. Her bombastic entrance is met with a mixture of confused and frightened expressions. There’s a moment of silence, then it’s shattered into a mill
Corpse March Chapter 30
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