Vol 4 Chapter 49 – That Underground Prison from Before【Vol 4 – Stop Shion’s Fabricated Engagement】

I couldn’t let that slide.

“Hey Koshion. Can you tell us the details?”

“It’s super secret. Really, I’m absolutely not supposed to tell anyone. But—”

“Sorry, I really need you to tell me. I’ll do anything I can.”

“—Then Master, one request.”

“What?”

“…Will you make me your disciple forever and ever, not just for a limited time…?”

“Sure, I promise. So tell me everything.”

“Y-yay!”

In contrast to us frantically worrying, an overjoyed Koshion told us everything she knew.

Crown Prince Vacanamessh had been obsessed with alchemy since more than ten years before becoming crown prince.

To obtain combat power he could use and discard at will, he set his sights on the Demonbane Princess Knight Shion and made plans to mass-produce homunculi through alchemy.

He apparently had extreme difficulty obtaining materials like Shion’s hair and sweat.

And whether because the materials he obtained were insufficient or for some other reason, the homunculi died immediately after being manufactured, with Koshion being the only survivor.

—As these shocking facts were revealed by Koshion, I exchanged looks with Yuna-san and Nagisa.

“Nagisa, have you heard anything like this before?”

“Not at all. I never even heard that man was an alchemist, let alone that he was making homunculi. I knew he was interested in poisons, but to think it was connected to alchemy…!”

“It’s a pretty unbelievable story… but I think Koshion is telling the truth. What do you two think?”

“I agree with Master. It explains why this child resembles young Shion so much, and also why he forcibly summoned Shion with a fake alliance. Above all, there’s no reason for this child to lie.”

“I agree with you both. More importantly, we don’t have time to scrutinize information.”

“I think so too.”

During the day, I’d desperately searched for the crown prince, ready to beat his location out of him, but I couldn’t find him no matter what, and no one knew where he was.

In other words, as of daytime, both the crown prince and Shion had vanished.

Combined with that fact, this current information, and what we’d heard about the crown prince so far, a terrible hypothesis emerged.

One was that the crown prince himself had abducted Shion.

And from the question of why he abducted her at this timing came another prediction.

It meant the crown prince’s preparations to do something to Shion were complete…!

“Shion’s in danger. —Probably, the crown prince has found a way to use Shion as material for homunculi. I don’t know what method it is, but at this rate, something irreversible will happen. Koshion, please guide us.”

“B-but I don’t know where Shion is…!”

“When you came here, you said you snuck away from guard duty, right? Where was that?”

“Over there.”

Where Koshion pointed was that underground prison from before.

The underground prison with unusually heavy security at the entrance, with bloodstains covering the entire floor, lined with chemical-preserved fetuses and monster eyeballs.

“Beyond there, secret underground passages are connected. Together with a graveyard of failures and rooms for human experimentation.”

“—Let’s go!!”

Without waiting for everyone’s response, I broke into a full sprint.

Vol 4 Chapter 50 – Promise【Vol 4 – Stop Shion’s Fabricated Engagement】

Shion had been dazed for a while at the sight of corpses with her own face lined up, but eventually snapped to attention and glared at the crown prince.

“—So you’re trying to mass-produce homunculi using my body as material, and that’s why you tried to make me your bride! You devil!!”

“No, that’s wrong.”

“It’s useless to play dumb now!”

At Shion’s words, the crown prince shrugged with exasperation.

“It’s true I had plans to mass-produce your homunculi. But it failed, and the reason is that you weren’t the Demonbane Princess Knight the world claimed you were.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Long ago, you not only resealed the evil god that nearly destroyed the world but actually destroyed it—if you were such a princess knight, conquering the world through military force alone would be easy. So even if they degraded during the replication process, with enough numbers they’d become the military power to make the world mine—that’s what I calculated.”

“…”

“But in reality, your homunculi were utterly disappointing. Most failed, and the only surviving specimen could at best rampage through a single knight order alone… Strong, yes, but far from the moniker of Demonbane Princess Knight.”

“Hmph. Isn’t it because your alchemy skills are poor?”

“Perhaps. But I considered another possibility. That Princess Knight Shion’s actual abilities aren’t as high as the world claims.”

Cold sweat ran down Shion’s back.

The reason wasn’t simply that her abilities had been seen through.

It was because she realized the evil alchemist’s hands had reached the truth behind that.

“After investigating for years, I finally figured it out recently.”

“…!”

“Your master. Despite being extremely capable, his nature is that of a good-natured fool found anywhere—”

“If you lay a hand on Master, I won’t forgive you even if I die!”

“Lay a hand? How foolish. If I carelessly touched that man, I’d be finished in an instant.”

Denied, Shion inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Even this man whose thoughts were incomprehensible apparently understood he wouldn’t get away with mocking her Master—

But the next words froze Shion again.

“So I’ll just make a request. That man seems terribly kind to his disciples, after all.”

“What are you planning!? Don’t tell me—”

“If you and I marry, through you as my queen, I can order that man around.”

“Th-there’s no way I’d marry any man other than Master!! Especially not you!”

“Do you still not understand? —Even if something like a love potion doesn’t exist, drugs that destroy the mind do exist. Right here.”

The crown prince took out a small bottle and opened the lid.

A sweet apple-like scent wafted from the bottle.

Shion backed away to escape, but her back immediately hit the wall.

“D-don’t come closer! If you come any closer, I’ll bite my tongue and die!”

“I don’t mind. Fortunately, I have the equipment here—making you drink the drug and then resuscitating you is child’s play.”

“—!”

Shion tried to slip past the crown prince, but her legs tangled and she struck the stone floor hard.

“How pathetic. You should decide your fate gracefully, as befits a princess.”

“I refuse! I have a promise with Master from ten years ago!!”

“…Promise?”

“Before storming the evil god’s temple, Master and I made a promise. —Master told me ‘Never give up no matter what adversity you face,’ and I promised Master ‘Please absolutely come back!'”

“So what…?”

“Master took ten years, but magnificently fulfilled his promise to me! So—as his disciple, I can’t break my promise with Master!!”

“What nonsense. Ridiculous.”

The crown prince snorted, then straddled the fallen Shion and forcibly lifted her mouth.

Shion shook her head trying to escape, but couldn’t muster any of her usual strength.

“Give up. —Your current despair-stained face is beautiful, but you can rest assured those emotions will soon disappear. Though all other emotions will vanish too.”

“Master! Will never! Forgive! Someone like you!”

“That’s why I’m taking his cute disciple hostage, fool.”

“Go to hell—!!”

And Shion’s tightly closed mouth was forcibly pried open by the crown prince’s fingers.

The sweet scent wafting from the medicine bottle conveyed despair to Shion’s nostrils.

Whether from fear of losing herself or from self-reproach at troubling her Master.

A single large teardrop fell from Shion’s eyes—

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM——————!!

Suddenly, without any warning, the floor exploded.

Shion’s honed reflexes let her instinctively break her fall, but the crown prince took the direct hit and was blown away helplessly.

And then.

The figures that emerged from the dust cloud were a girl who looked just like young Shion, and her Master.