Symphony for the Insect Princess

"No...no no no...no!!! Chloe!!!"

"Eh, wow?"

"Clear this pile of rocks!"

"Yes, move aside a little—an icy wind descended from the cold river, blowing past..."

Chloe released a strong gust of wind, which brushed past York's body and blew away all the rubble in front of him.

Then the part that was pressed underneath was exposed.

It's coke.

Pieces and pieces, black in color, were first burned and then buried. Now one can barely see that these are the remains of human organs such as organs and bones.

The wreck of Lux.

He was baptized by the explosion at close range and turned into charcoal. The only intact part left was his left hand.

And on the other side-

"she also……"

Nellis came over with a sad expression on her face. In her arms was the headless body of a young girl. The body was also affected by the blast, and there were many burns on the skin, but none of them were as terrible as the huge wound left by the heart being gouged out.

Molly's body.

In less than a minute—no, just a few seconds—Lukes and Molly were dead.

And Ellen is the murderer.

"how so……"

York sank to his knees in despair. No, this shouldn't be the case. They'd already implemented the most reliable plan, so why did two people still die? He'd assumed that even if the real culprit was Ellen or Chloe, the other one could contain the real killer. Who could have imagined Ellen's fighting power was so overwhelming, and that she'd already prepared a retreat?

"I... I killed... killed... Lukes... I... wuuuuuuuuu..."

Chloe's eyes had completely lost their luster. Although it wasn't her fault, the fact that she had killed her blood brother remained the same. She had killed Lukes, and Molly had been killed by Ellen. And the real murderer was Ellen, her sister who had been with her for many years. She couldn't accept this fact no matter what.

Nearby, Nia was already in a trance, his gaze constantly wandering over the two horrific corpses, only confusion remained in his eyes, and Lillian—

"No... no... why is this happening... no... it's obviously not my fault..."

"Ah? Sister, what are you talking about--" Nia, who was in a trance just now, suddenly realized the incongruity and asked curiously.

"--Ah! No! What am I--"

Lillian realized she had said the wrong thing and tried to take it back, but—

"What did you say!?"

York suddenly leaped up, completely losing his previous calm and restraint! He rushed to Lillian in two steps and picked her up!

"pain……"

"What did you just say?!"

"Nothing... nothing..."

"Come on! I heard it too! What do you mean by 'it's clearly not my fault'? What does that even mean!?"

"No, no! I was just frightened... startled! So I said something strange..."

"Don't pretend! Did you already know something?"

"Woo...Woo..."

The furious York grabbed Lillian's collar and shook her back and forth with great force. At the same time, the collar was pulled so tight that she couldn't breathe and could only groan in pain.

"Hurry up... hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up! Don't waste time! Father is dead, Anhans is dead, Lux is dead, Molly is dead. If you are hiding even a little bit of useful information, tell me quickly-"

"——Brother York!"

Grasp!

A pair of white hands with long fingers tightly grasped York's hands. The slender wrists that reminded people of luxurious handicrafts tried to pry his hands open. Lillian, who was freed, coughed several times in succession and collapsed limply to the ground.

Both of them looked at the intruder in surprise.

"Nellis..."

"Insect Girl..."

"You two... calm down for a moment."

This girl, who is always low-key, is trying her best to stop the quarrel between her brother and sister.

York showed a slightly ashamed expression for a moment, while Lillian's expression was very subtle.

----------------

"You two... calm down for a moment."

I carefully acted like a girl who wasn't good at expressing herself and was trying hard to calm down an argument, while choosing my words carefully to temporarily put this meaningless argument aside.

"Brother York, you are the one who is most capable of controlling the situation among the remaining people, so... please at least calm down first!"

“………………Well, I…was a little impulsive.”

York touched his neck awkwardly and took two steps back from Lillian.

"And Lillian, uh... everyone's in a state of confusion right now. Please sort out your emotions first, okay?"

"..."

Lillian looked at me with increasingly complicated eyes, then nodded silently and stepped aside.

Okay, now that things have calmed down a bit, let's get back on track. York is a pillar of support, and it would be terrible if he also lost his mind. Considering the shock and sadness he's suffered, it's understandable.

Actually, I am not the type of person who likes to cry. It may be because my emotions usually fluctuate very little, so I quickly adapted to the current situation.

"...I'm sorry, Nelris, I lost my composure, but I really... am..."

"I know, Brother York... everything happened so suddenly," I cried, "I'm scared too, really scared... but... at least, we know who the real murderer is. He's escaped the hall and is hiding somewhere in the mansion. We must quickly devise a countermeasure."

"indeed……"

York shook his head vigorously, as if he wanted to shake off all the negative emotions. He had just experienced the death of relatives and friends, but he was able to suppress the sadness and adjust so quickly. He is indeed a talented person.

(But, Nelris, she...)

York said quietly, glancing at Lillian.

(Lillian is indeed a little weird, she must be hiding something, but I don't think we should irritate her too much)

(That's true. Let's think of a solution first and pay attention to her every move.)

----------------

So, the two of them quickly sorted out the current information while keeping an eye on Lillian.

Then...something suspicious was discovered.

"It's a bit strange indeed..."

York stroked his chin and frowned.

"If Ellen wants the great secret treasure, her useless actions are too many."

"It's come full circle."

"First, there were no guards or servants on the first night. Everyone's prepared dishes were initially placed in the kitchen. Before dinner, she could easily sneak into the kitchen and poison the food, killing everyone at once."

"But she didn't do it. Is there any reason why she couldn't poison him?"

"Maybe... Secondly, since she didn't poison them, why didn't she just wait until everyone was asleep at night and then kill them all?"

"Because there are alarms or similar magic on the doors of every room in this mansion, she must be afraid of exposing herself if she acts rashly. Besides, my father has a shadow servant following him."

"But the fact is, from what we saw this morning, she did take action at night and successfully killed my father and Shadow Servant. Since she was able to kill them quietly, she should be able to kill others as well. Why didn't she do that?"

"Indeed, as long as she kills the three family heads and digs out their hearts on the first night, she can easily take the great secret treasure and even disguise the scene as the tragic massacre of aristocrats..."

York and Nelris fell into deep thought. After knowing that Ellen was the real murderer, they recalled the past and found many unreasonable things, and they really couldn't think of a good explanation.

At times like this—

"...Hey, Lillian, come here for a moment, okay?"

York tried to make his expression look kind and waved to Lillian, who shuddered violently.

"me……"

"I believe you know something. Please tell us if you can, even just a hint. Did you already know that the murderer was Ellen? Were you threatened by Ellen? Or is there some other reason you can't tell us?"

"I...but...I...really..."

at this time--

"Uh... York... Chloe... everyone? You... what... are you doing..."

That voice rang out.

Crunch, crunch, that's the sound of boots stepping on gravel.

A guy who should never come to you suddenly appears.

Ellen Zelah stumbled towards the half-ruined hall, her face full of pain and cold sweat on her forehead, as if she would vomit at any moment.

"What on earth is going on...? Ouch! My head... hurts!"

Chapter 17 The Demon King's Relics

Just a few minutes ago——

"..."

In a small storage room, she suddenly came to her senses.

"……………………?"

Just like a bad student who dozed off in class and was yelled at by the teacher, she shuddered suddenly, and her cloudy consciousness suddenly became clear... No, not clear, she still felt confused, and the haziness and trance came over her in waves. She had to pinch herself hard to barely maintain consciousness.

Myself, where is this?

what happened?

I tried to recall, but my memories seemed to be shrouded in thick fog. I couldn’t remember anything clearly and my mind was in a mess.

and--

"——Woo!"

The sudden, intense headache made her clutch her head in agony. It hurt! It hurt! It really hurt! This is what it would feel like if someone were chiseling away at your skull! It was unbearable!

Take a deep breath—take a deep breath—take a deep breath—calm down—then think about what happened—

The father fell to the ground, his chest cut open, dead.

Anhans fell in a pool of blood, his chest cut open, dead.

“Uooa ...

The first thing that came to her mind was the painful memories, and she couldn't help but scream. Yes, her father was dead, and the person she loved was dead. What on earth was she doing here?

Go back, go back first. Why are you here? What happened? You must find someone to ask clearly. The headache must be just temporary!

However, the headaches became more and more severe.

----------------

Under the shocked gazes of the five people, Ellen staggered back to the hall, with cold sweat dripping from her forehead. She looked really bad.

"You guys...are still here...tell me...what exactly..."

"Don't come any closer!!!!"

York immediately took a few steps back as if he had seen a ghost, and at the same time pulled out several magic scrolls from his pocket and held them between his fingers. Nelris quickly hid behind a large piece of rubble and released several flying insects. Lillian and Nia rolled to the corner in embarrassment. Chloe woke up as if from a dream and began to weave spells in a panic.

"Hey? You...how..."

"I told you not to come over here!"

York roared, and at the same time Chloe fired a string of ice spikes at Ellen. Ellen barely waved her sword to deflect them, but she was unable to fight at all now. The rebound force made her fall to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Are you, are you crazy!? Why are you——"

"Why? Tell me why! Why would you rather kill your own brothers than get the great secret treasure? You've already collected the hearts of the three family heads, and you still think it's not enough? Can't you just take the great secret treasure and leave us alone? Why did you show up in front of us? Are you so eager to kill us all?!"