[Book 2] Gate Guardian - Song of the Frozen Soul

PHASE 73 - I'LL NEVER EAT SHAWARMA AGAIN

PHASE 73 - I'LL NEVER EAT SHAWARMA AGAIN

When morning came, Jecchan immediately received a call from the Black Cross Legion. Her panicked actions woke me and Rikkun afterward, telling me that we should skip our classes for this day and board a bus to Myrrh City. There seemed to be an emergency, so it’s only natural for Jecchan to act like that.

However, the yells she had early in the morning made us hurry to the bones. Rikkun forgot to shower, and I forgot to brush my teeth. The result is that we half-heartedly went to the bus terminal while still having our brains asleep.

When we are already on the bus, Jecchan finally managed to calm down. There’s nothing to do instead of sitting anyway, so we have this chance to clear some things out.

“Jeanne, what’s the matter? What’s with the hurry about this crap?” Rikkun protested, and then he followed by a long yawn.

“The Black Cross Mansion has been infiltrated last night. Sister Cryst told me to come for some briefing.” Jecchan said.

“Oh, so you’re the only one who’s being summoned,” Rikkun said. “You should have left us out of it.”

“It concerns Benedict Hamerov…” Jecchan pierced Rikkun with a cold glare. “...and Tiara’s step-sisters.”

“Eh?” My eyes went wide open. “Y-You mean Sis Alice and Sis Bella? What happened to them?”

“We’ll know more once we get there.”

<>

After an hour, we finally reached the Black Cross Mansion. Contrary to most of the time, the garden at the front of this mansion is not filled with colorful flowers, but red blood. There are blood marks everywhere. 

What’s more terrifying than blood marks is more blood marks. The floor is filled with dried blood and the stench is horrible. It smells like rotten flesh in here, and I’d go insane if stay here for an hour.

Police and Gate Guardians are investigating these blood marks. They are all so busy so we did not bother them to the slightest. We just hurried in walking to reach the office of the Legionmaster.

I have a really bad feeling about this.

The blood trails stopped the moment we reached the giant door of the mansion. From there onwards, the blood trails are no longer existent. It’s the very same clean and tidy mansion we always visit whenever we are summoned in here.

The pathway all through the main office is also clean. There are only more policemen and investigators in the area, and some are checking out the CCTV cameras.

“Aether Crusade at your service, your holiness.” Jecchan bowed as soon as we met the Legionmaster of the Black Cross, Sister Amanda Cryst. Rikkun and I also bowed in his presence.

“I’m sorry, Miss Noctis. I had to summon you at the very start of the sunrise. There are some things we want you to know.” The nun’s voice is as calming as ever. She turned to me with a sorrowful glare. “There are also some things that the shrine maiden should know.”

“I’ve heard the news, your holiness,” Jecchan said. “Our prisoner, Benedict Hamerov is dead. The same is true with Tiara’s step-sisters Alice and Bella Solstice.”

The nun immediately pulled out a folder from her desk and opened it for us to read. It is a record of pictures which indicates the Black Cross Underground Prison that has been used to detain Cursed Guardians is now a prison for dead bodies. Most of the prisoners had their body in decomposition, and some are mummified.