Corpse March

Chapter 69 Cask

“Long time no see, Tot.” 

“It’s literally been a single day.” 

Kazuko walks along the pristine battlefield and comes to a stop exactly ten paces away from where Haru’s standing. 

“What do you want?” Haru adjusts her stance, placing herself between Kazuko and the unconscious Tsumugi. 

“I’ve come to talk.”

“That’s it?” 

“Yep. I realized that after all this time, we never got a chance to properly talk to each other.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“I must thank you, Tot.” Kazuko plants her rapier on the ground. “I think you’ve helped me to realize something about myself.” 

“And what is that?”

“That you and I are the same. We’re two sides of the same coin, you and I. We can claim to be soldiers or heroes or avenging angels all we want, but in the end, we both kill.” 

“You’ve come all this way just to tell me that?”

“Not quite. I’ve decided that I won’t tolerate any more excuses. From you or from myself. Regardless of whether we chose our lives or our lives chose us, we’re both killers. Judgment has arrived for us both.” Kazuko lifts her rapier and levels it at Haru’s chest. “Shall we duel? One last time?” 

“One way or another, this is the last time I have to deal with your sorry ass.” 

A chill wind blows between the two. Haru tightens her grip on KANNIBAL. Kazuko does the same with Sasori. 

“Strider.” 

Ethereal energy wraps itself around Kazuko’s feet. Then, all of a sudden, Kazuko disappears. Haru’s physically enhanced eyes barely manage to keep up with her speed. She swings.

“Haa… Haa… Haa…” Deep heaving breaths come from both of their mouths. A moment passes, then two. They both feel blood pooling at their feet. Neither of them dare to look down. But they can only avoid fate for so long. Kazuko falls to the ground, her head on the verge of fainting from blood loss 

“Well played.” Kazuko doesn’t bother trying to staunch the bleeding from her chest. “Well played.”

“Why did you…?” Haru turns around and kneels down next to Kazuko. “You didn’t draw your weapon.”

“I think… I think I finally understand you now, Haru.” She coughs up some more blood. “There really is nothing I can say, nothing I can do to make you regret what you’ve done.”

“...”

“It’s really too bad. You’re a funny gal, Haru. I think that in a perfect world, we could have been friends.” 

“Well… Let's not go that far.”

“Heh. Fair enough.” Kazuko closes her eyes. “You know, it’s kind of funny. I thought dying would be scary but right now, all I really feel is peace.”

“I get what you mean.” 

“Sorry, Haru. About all this, I mean. Causing you so much trouble. You kinda deserved it and you should be the one bleeding out but hey, here we are.” 

“That was almost touching.” 

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not apologizing out of the goodness of my heart, I just don’t want to pass on with a dirty conscience.”

“So… you are doing it out of the goodness of your heart?” Haru smiles. 

“Well… now that you mention it, I sorta am, yeah.” Kazuko chuckles, which causes even more blood to seep out of her wound. “I think… I think I can accept what you meant now. About us being the same, I mean. We really are kindred spirits… you… and I.”

“Kindred spirits, huh?”

“...”

“Kazuko?”

“...” 

Haru doesn’t need to check for a pulse to know that she’s dead. A single drop of rain falls onto Kazuko’s cheek. No, not rain– a single teardrop. Haru wipes her eyes on her sleeve. 

“I was wrong about one thing.” Haru closes Kazuko’s eyes. “We’re not the same at all.” 

The same things that broke Haru are the very same things that made Kazuko stronger. Whereas Kazuko hardened her heart to the cruelty of the world, Haru softened hers. Deep down, she could tell that Kazuko really was a kind girl at heart who let her quest for revenge blind her. But Haru is different. 

Though she started walking this path to survive, there was a point where she chose to block out the noise, accepting it as a part of herself. She’s broken beyond any kind of repair. Whatever redemption, absolution, or catharsis she once deserved, she’s learned to reject them all. The moment she accepted that she was beyond saving, she truly was.

“We’re not the same at all.” 

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“This way.” Tsumugi forages deep into the Curia. Into the underground basement level that hardly anyone ever enters. 

“Let go of me!” Florence follows close behind, coerced by two Monarchs

“Stop resisting.” 

They forage deeper and deeper, along spiral staircases and long extinguished braziers. The air starts to grow musky, thick with the scent of mold. Eventually, they come to a stop in front of what can only be described as a hole in the wall. A gap in the brickwork. Inside are a pair of manacles.

“No.” Florence begins to understand what’s about to happen. “No no no no no no no no NO NO NO NO NO NO!”

“We’re here.” Tsumugi flicks her hand towards the hole. The Monarchs comply, dragging Florence into the gap, kicking and screaming. They slap the manacles onto his hands, lock them shut, and throw away the key. It clatters into the darkness, far far away from Florence’s reach.

“PLEASE! PLEASE DON’T DO THIS!” 

Tsumugi only stares, intoxicated with schadenfreude pleasure. The way he struggles against his chains is just too much fun to watch. But alas, the fun can only last for so long. Tsumugi begins layering the brickwork, whistling to herself all the while. She takes her sweet time laying on the mortar. 

All the while, low moaning cries echo through the dungeon. There’s a long and obstinate silence as Tsumugi lays the second and the third tier and the fourth. She hears the furious rattling of chains and desperate yelling for help. With every layer she finishes, the shrieking only grows louder and louder still. Right before she lays the final brick, she casts her voice into the hole. 

“I’ll give you one last chance, Florence.” 

Florence is silent.

“You killed a friend of mine with that bomb you planted. If you tell me her name, I’ll let you go.” 

“...” Still, nothing. 

“Last chance.”

“...”

“Very well, then.” 

Tsumugi lays the final brick. The very last thing Florence sees before the light completely disappears is the crude engraving on the final brick. It simply says “In loving memory of Asuka Katame.” Then there is only darkness.  

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“Ready?” 

“As I’ll ever be.” 

“You’ll do great.” Haru plants a kiss on Tsumugi’s neck. 

“Oh stop, you.” 

“Ahem.” The Monarch guarding the door clears her throat. “You’re up, Lady Tsumugi.” 

“Thank you.” Tsumugi turns to Haru one last time. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck!” 

Tsumugi nods as she steps through the double doors leading out of the Curia. She walks the cobblestone path all the way towards the gate where a large stage has been set up for Tsumugi to give her speech. 

“Citizens of Takakumo! Hear me now! My name is Tsumugi Tsubame! Firstborn daughter of Hoshi Tsubame! And, as the sole remaining councilor of Takakumo, the new presiding ruler of all of Takakumo!”

The audience watches on with bated breath, terrified of the humongous metal hulks flanking them from all sides. Tsumugi was hoping for some applause but she gets nothing. 

“There are going to be some changes to how we operate as a city-state. Firstly! The doors of Takakumo are now open to the outside world. As of today, the stealth field that formerly protected us has been destroyed. Secondly, the Monarchs are no longer our enemy. I repeat, the Monarchs are no longer our enemy.” 

This earns some confusion and even mildly furious mutterings from the crowd. 

“You have been led astray by Hoshi Tsubame and her propaganda. The modern Monarch has changed significantly, with only a small sect of Monarchs still using the Papilio.”

She lies as easily as she breathes. 

“The organization known as the Monarchs have long outgrown their old habits. Can we not find it in our hearts to make peace with our age-old enemy?”

“She lies!” 

Someone throws a rock at Tsumugi. 

“...” She sighs, raises a finger at the dissenter and whispers under her breath “Golohab”. Black fire arcs out from her fingertip and incinerates a hole into the crowd. There are screams. “Does anyone else have any concerns they want to raise?”

The Monarchs glower mercilessly at the edge of the crowd, weapons drawn. 

“...Good.” Tsumugi storms from the stage, back through the gates, onto the cobblestone path, through the double doors leading into the Curia. Two lines of maids flank the path from the entrance to the throne room. They bow to Tsumugi as she passes but she does not acknowledge them. 

She pushes open the double doors leading into the throne room. Save for the red carpet in the middle, the room is filled to the brim with Takakumo’s elite, they all chitter worriedly among themselves. The rats of the city. Memories of endless political battles, fought with hidden daggers and honeyed words flood her mind. That’s something she isn’t going to miss, at least. Everyone falls silent when Tsumugi enters the room. 

Some of the Monarchs begin to applaud. Little by little, the elite do so as well. Though, it’s plain to see that their smiles are forced. Whatever. Tsumugi humors them by waving to them, as though they actually did love her and as though she actually loved them. 

Up ahead, standing next to the throne, is Haru, with the only real smile in the room on her face. She’s carrying a pillow with an ornate crown made of braided gold on top. It’s customary for councilors to take office with the spouse present. Since there’s no other councilors left alive to actually bestow the crown onto her, she figures that Haru will make a sufficient substitution. 

Tsumugi kneels, and Haru gently places the crown on her head. It fits perfectly, like fate itself arranged for her to be queen. She rises to her feet and takes her rightful place on the throne of Takakumo. 

“My name is Tsumugi Tsubame, the Spiritualist of the Damned, the Magical Girl of Fear, and ruler of Takakumo. If any object to my rule, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

The room is silent, sealing Takakumo’s fate. 

‘Mom… Tsuki… Gleam… Auntie… I did it.’ tears well up in Tsumugi’s eyes. ‘I finally did it. Are you all proud of me?’

“...”

There is only silence.