Corpse March

Chapter 8

“Good.”

Kagami takes a deep breath in and a deep breath out. Tsumugi earnestly follows suit like a little sister copying her big sister. Well, she supposes that this arrangement could be worse. Tsumugi seems like a sweet and gentle enough girl. Maybe she won’t mind getting such a quick divorce. Hm, no, she’s definitely going to take offense to that if Haru even suggests it. She might even have her beheaded. Do they still do beheadings in the Neo Magical Academy? She isn’t sure. Though, she did say that Muse was just an honorary title. Well, honorary title or no, she’d hate to break her heart that callously. Hmmm… what to do? Maybe she’ll eventually just get bored of Haru? She can hope. But only time will tell. 

“By the way, is someone missing?”

Kagami’s voice cuts through the din inside of Haru’s head. 

 “I only count ninety nine–”

The joy of the occasion is suddenly soured. A wave of vanished smiles spread out from the center of the circle all the way to the edge. The din of joyful murmurs are silenced entirely, replaced by mournful ones. All the gentle innocence on Kagami’s face, that too disappears, making her look like she’s made of stone. 

“There’s nothing we can do for Hana now. May Lady Tsubame welcome her soul in the afterlife.”

“Let it be so.”

Everyone repeats the prayer, Haru does the same out of respect. 

Kagami picks up a rock and places it on the ground. Each of the remaining ninety nine, as well as Tsumugi and Haru do the same. By the end, they’ve created a small grave. One that will last only until the next storm, but for now, it is enough. 

The rest of the day progresses in grief-filled silence. The ground that Haru steps on is wet with tears. Though, none of them are Kagami’s. The grief is evident on her face, but it is devoid of weakness. It’s a long trek but the physical enhancement magic Haru has on herself makes it a breeze. By the time they make camp, she feels only a tinge of exhaustion. Like she had just taken a pleasant walk. 

It’s strange. In spite of the tents, the campfire and the mellow atmosphere, this feels nothing like the camping trip she had when she was in elementary. For one, she was still pretty close to civilization back then. Which meant that she could still use actual toilets, dirty toilets with thin toilet paper– which she still vastly prefers over literal holes in the ground. On the upside, she hit her mental limit hours ago so the only thought going through her head is “This might as well happen”.  

On the upside, dinner is surprisingly delicious. It’s just boar roasted on a spit with a little salt but that’s enough, surprisingly. The savory, meaty taste is a little overwhelming, but she sort of likes it that way. The toughness too. She normally likes her meat to not have the texture of rope but it’s like the firelight cast a spell over her, making it so that she can’t help but enjoy herself. 

Every so often, someone hears a rustle in the bushes some way off and a small patrol party has to go out and search the area for Monarchs. Thankfully, they all seem to be false alarms and sometimes they even come back with little rabbits they managed to catch. Imagine the horror on Haru’s face when they clubbed them over the head with rocks and made stew from their corpses. For better or worse, they were delicious. 

Eventually, everyone retires to their tents for the night. Haru tries to enter one of the large communal tents but she’s redirected to a small one– Tsumugi’s personal tent. She gulps. 

Haru lingers at the entrance of the tent. Inside, Tsumugi’s still wearing her simple dress. It’s actually a rather spacious tent, but it’s sized for one person so it’s still just a little cramped. 

“Just to be clear, don’t go expecting anything uncouth.”

“Uncouth?”

“You know, anything…”

Haru blushes.”

“Ahhhh! Just don’t get any weird ideas, okay?!”

“A-alright. I’m not sure what you mean but alright.”

Haru sets KANNIBAL down at the foot of her bedroll, where it takes up a solid quarter of the tent and invades the foot of Tsumugi’s bedroll. 

“Excuse me.”

“I don’t mind.”

She merely pulls her feet up a little to keep away from the bladed edge. 

“That’s a dandy weapon you got there.”

Dandy. Who even uses the word ‘Dandy’ anymore?

“It pays to have a little firepower.”

“If you want firepower, why not pick up a gun? It seems a lot more convenient than lugging that around.”

“I dunno how it is in the Neo Magical Academy, but in the outside world, the first spell anyone learns is some kind of protective spell. Guard, Magic Armor, Faith Shield, whatever, they’ve got at least one. I’ve already got my Flame Bolt, so, what do I need a gun for? I might as well have something that can bust through protection, right?”

“I suppose that’s a good point. Maybe we should start teaching our citizens how to do that. Could be helpful...”

“There some kind of a problem in the Neo Magical Academy?”

“Sort of…”

Tsumugi scratches her head. 

“It’s always been an issue, but gun violence has been particularly high recently.  It’s the result of a bunch of root issues. Lack of food, lack of water, lack of basic housing, lack of… well, it’s the result of a whole bunch of stuff, but most especially that fact that it’s anyone’s right to pick up a gun and use it. That, and the fact that it's both a religiously and legally protected right makes it really hard to get any demilitarization done. Plus, some of the war-hawks on the council don’t even want to demilitarize–”

Tsumugi suddenly freezes, having just caught herself rambling. 

“Sorry, this is probably really boring.”

“No, it’s fine–”

“And also highly secret.”

“Ah, I see. We should probably change the subject then. Unless the red dot on the side of your head turns into a bullet hole.”

Haru was just kidding but Tsumugi visibly flinches as she checks her body for a red dot. Haru laughs. 

“So, um…”

She scratches her head, trying to get the conversation back on track. Her eyes dart around the tent before settling back onto KANNIBAL.

“Why’d you attach strings to your ax?”

“What do you mean? KANNIBAL wouldn’t work without his strings.”

“KANNIBAL?”

“Yep, KANNIBAL. That’s my guitar’s name.”

“That thing’s a guitar?”

“Of course. What kind of musician would I be without an instrument? It’s a guitar that just happens to also be an ax.”

“You play?”

“Yep. Our mercenary club actually doubles as a light music club so I eventually picked up a thing or two.”

“Huh. How’d that happen?”

“Branding problem. Our boss wanted to give the mercenary club an actual name to make it feel more professional. Just so happened that the light music club also picked the same name at the same time. There was a big stink around it for a week or so before we agreed to just merge the two clubs.”

“Was it at least a good name?”

Haru shrugs. 

“I didn’t pick it so feel free to laugh. Boss wanted us called ‘Girls Won’t Cry’.”

“‘Girls Won’t Cry’?”

“Yes, ‘Girls Won’t Cry’. 

A momentary puzzlement overshadows Tsumugi’s curiosity. 

“‘Girls Won’t Cry’…”

“Yep, yep. ‘Girls Won’t Cry’.”

“Not ‘Girls That Won’t Cry’ or ‘Girls Don’t Cry’.”

“Nope.”

“Girls Won’t Cry…”

“Uh-huh.”

“You’re a girl. Do you cry?”

“Sometimes. Does that maybe count as false advertising, then?”

“Hm… maybe.”

It’s an interesting topic to muse over, but Tsumugi might be musing a little too deeply. For now, it’s time to change subjects. 

“Nice staff.”

“Huh?”

“Your staff. I think it looks cool.”

“Ah. I see…”

She runs her hand along its black shaft. Soft clicking fills the air as her nails brush against its harsh grain. Knots like black bubbles give it a diseased appearance while ribbing like vertebrae make it seem emaciated. At its top, the wood splits into two horns, curled into a vase-like shape . Together, they frame a four-pointed crystal– deep blue like the sea below a full moon. 

“Thank you. It’s my inheritance.”

“‘Inheritance’...”

She repeats the word, puzzling a deduction from it. Tsumugi lets her.

“I’m sorry. Father or…”

“Mother. I wanted to keep it hidden… but I suppose this is as good a time as any to come clean. And, well, you are my wife now so I suppose you’ll be wanting to know what name you’ll be taking.”

“I prefer to think of it as you being my wife but that’s a can of worms we can open later. Go on.”

“My last name’s Tsubame. As in, Tsumugi Tsubame.”