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Holding the hem of her skirt, Ciel bowed down, and the cage of briars began to collapse into itself.
The briars were arranged to avoid falling on Ciel and I also made sure she avoided hitting as many people as possible.

Ciel wore a sulky expression, as if to say she hadn’t had her fill of dancing yet. Still, our enemies had already lost their fighting spirit, and it would be best to avoid soiling the manor’s exterior more than necessary.

That’s why I stopped singing and instructed Ciel to halt.

『I still wanted to dance more; you’re so mean, Ain.』
『While this was the first time we’ve had such a long battle with an audience present, continuing would only pile up corpses and nothing more.
It would be difficult to clean afterwards.』
『Oh right! Ain, are you alright?』

Ciel suddenly raised her voice, seemingly recalling something.
She seemed worried about me. Did something happen that would warrant this reaction?

『You don’t really like seeing people die much, do you, Ain?』
『Ah… If that’s what you’re concerned about, I do feel uncomfortable, but not to the point that it bothers me.』

After all, these are people who came to eliminate Ciel, if not to make a plaything of her.
They deserve no mercy. Had this been a random forest, the body count would probably have been higher.
I likely wouldn’t have intervened.

Ciel was probably concerned because of my frightened reaction when I first witnessed people die.
Nowadays, it doesn’t bother me as much.
Is it due to the divine power dwelling in me? Or is my mental state simply broken?
Still, I doubt I could handle watching people I know die.

I’m probably fine right now because I didn’t see them as people—much like how Ciel differentiates me from everyone else.
And I might have been simply influenced by this world’s casual acceptance of mortality.
I’ve already lost count of the number of times Ciel’s life has been in danger, which mostly occurred during the first five years of her life.

「Lady Cielmer, we have come to escort you back.」
「Mn.」
「We maidservants will handle the cleanup, so please return to your bedroom and rest.」
「Understood.」

Luna and Mia arrived, and escorted Ciel back inside the manor residence and then to our room.
Mohsa is probably assisting with the cleanup. It’s not like I’ll surface anytime soon anyhow, and they probably could use the extra hands.

While I was mulling this over, someone was approaching our room.
Well, I can sense it’s likely Mother Fii.
After a knock on the door, I visually confirmed that it was her, so lowered my guard a notch.

「Good work out there.」
「Was it alright like that?」
「Yes, yes. No need to worry. You caused less collateral damage to the residence than expected as well; you did great.」
「Glad to hear that.」

Displaying Ciel’s strength was part of our objective this time, so I suppose what we did was sufficient.
Ciel seems a bit unsatisfied, though.
Thinking about it, if everyone had died, there’d be no one left to speak of her strength. Perhaps I was correct to stop her, then.

「What will happen next?」
「My, Ciel showing interest in other people’s fates? That’s quite unusual.」
「I’m not really interested. I’m just concerned that, depending on the aftermath, we might not be able to leave the manor.」

I’m curious about that too, so I’m glad Ciel asked.
Ciel was likely serious about being uninterested. I’m not interested about them either, I’m just curious about the aftermath.
Whether or not we’re informed about their fates doesn’t really matter.

「Fufu, well, I see. No need for concern; I won’t limit your activities.
As for the assailants, they will be expelled from this district within a day of their awakening. From there, they’ll be required to depart the lands of Central within three days.」

As expected of Mother, she has completely cast them aside.
I can’t think of any other appropriate action.
Frankly, I’m surprised they haven’t been exiled sooner.

「What if there are people who won’t leave? These individuals today aren’t the type to listen, are they?」
「They’ll be forcefully evicted. I know where they are, after all. And… Right, I can call you once the leader Triadol wakes up, so why not see it for yourself?」
「Are you going to show us something interesting?」
「I can’t guarantee that it’ll be interesting, but I believe it should answer your question.」
「In that case, I’ll go see it.」

This might be the first time we witness Mother practicing sorcery—or is it magic?—outside her regular monitoring of Central.
I knew she was strong, but I’ve never seen her take actions that tangibly demonstrate her power.
Perhaps that’s why people like Triadol continue to appear.

Upon hearing Ciel’s response, Mother nodded with satisfaction before exiting the room.

◇

I’m not sure of the exact time, but it’s around nighttime. Ciel devastated a group that attacked us earlier; since the incident occurred in the early morning, the date hasn’t changed.
Since Ciel likes to sleep, our mornings were generally uneventful. But having had to deal with something so early for a change, the day feels exceptionally long.

Before we came to Central, Ciel had moments of waking up early, but she still slept just as much overall.
My barrier, which allows her to sleep anywhere, might have contributed to that.
However, I wonder if the real reason Ciel enjoys sleeping so much is because I borrow her body during the evenings?

Well, that was a slightly ominous cliffhanger if I ever saw one, lol.

Continuing from the previous chapters, the battle is finished and we’re back to the usual Ain perspective! We had a bit of Ain self-reflection for the first part and, thinking about it, this is probably the first time they killed so many people. Other than that, it seems like we’ll be seeing something from Fii on the next part *and* Triadol is still alive. We’re in for a show, good luck Triadol, lol.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!