Confinement King

I had a dream.

I dreamed of angels. But how did I know it was an angel?

Because they had beautiful white wings.

『Claudia, it's almost time for salvation. Have faith in me』

I nodded to the angel who told me that.

There's no way I can doubt it.

『Trust your sister(Ane). Save her. Don't ever abandon her』

That's a strange thing to say, I thought.

I'm the one who's being held captive.

『The devil(Akuma) is trying to feed you something. Making you sip your sister’s blood and once you've sipped it, you'll fall under the devil's control. Then there's no way to save you』

I don't know what that means.

But God gives us trials.

The words of the Bible are always difficult to understand, and the true meaning is shown behind the haze, to be grasped by one's own will.

After I thought that, I open my eyes, sit up and ruminate on the dream I just had.

The dream is swept away into the depth of oblivion as my consciousness awakens.

This is a dream that must never be forgotten. It should be.

I must imprint it on my consciousness, ruminate on it, and find its true meaning. It must be a clue to my salvation. It has to be.

At the same time as I remember what I dreamt, the memory of last night just before I fell asleep comes back to me.

（Huh? What's with this memory?）

I can't help but frown at the inexplicable feeling of discomfort.

（No... maybe I just feel that way because it's too unrealistic, that's all）

Last night, just before I fell asleep, I heard my sister's(Onee-chan) voice directly in my eardrums.

『Claudia! Now, I'm talking to you, with the help of the angel. I’m almost here! Don't give up! They'll take advantage of your kindness. Never show mercy to the devil!』

Sister's voice, angel's dream.

She’s almost there. That's all I can think of.

And it ignited a spark of hope in my frail heart.

（It doesn't matter if Fumio disgraces the angel. But, My God! My Angels! I will not abandon the righteous!）

I prayed in my heart. Then, almost as soon as I looked up, the door opened and Centipede's(Mukade) maid came into the room.

「I see you're awake... It's time for breakfast」

「...It got pretty quiet last night, so I slept well」

That's right. Usually the sound of women panting and beds creaking would keep me up until almost morning, but last night it quieted down around midnight.

I was worried that he might come to me, but he didn't, and I was able to sleep comfortably for the first time in a long time.

There was also the matter of my sister's message. So, I tried to trick this maid into thinking that things might have changed somehow.

But--

「Ah, since Taka-chi-sama fainted early yesterday, Confinement King-sama was visiting Kyoko-sama's room」

Without any particular hesitation, Centipede replied.

I've never heard the names of all these people before, but I guess they are the names of the women who fell victim to Fumio's poison. Nothing seems to indicate that trouble is brewing.

After placing the tray on the floor, Centipede tilts her head slightly.

「Today's breakfast is white stew」

「...You know, stew is heavy in the morning, and when a white liquid like this is served in a place like this...」

「Don't worry. There's no way a prisoner like you can afford the luxury of eating Master's white slime」

「Luxury...!?」

（It's scary that she doesn't even pretend to be joking...）

When I frowned, Centipede said.

「It's fine if you don't want to eat, but since Confinement King-sama's schedule for tonight is to train Claudia-sama, I think it would be wise to eat. If you're hungry, you'll die, won't you?」

**b

◇　◇　◇

「Kizuna... give me a fried egg」

「Okay, okaaay, hold on a second」

While I was taking care of my brother's(Onii-chan) breakfast, my phone on the table vibrated.

After dropping the eggs into the frying pan, I picked up my phone to find a message from Sato-chan.

It said――

『I’m in trouble with the summer homework! No, I'm seriously in trouble! So, I secured a genius who had already finished her homework. Today at 13:00, I'm hosting a human-powered copying contest at a family restaurant in front of the station. How about you, young(Ojou) lady(san), will you come?』

「A human-powered copying contest?」

I smiled and replied with a short message.

『Extremely-hot(Gekiatsu)』

Of course I'm going.

As far as I was concerned, I had already planned to pretend that I had left my notebook at home on the first day of the summer vacation and postpone the submission.

「Onii-chan, I'm going out with Sato-chan this afternoon to do homework」

「Hmm, yeah... where's Saki-chan?」

「She's not coming」

「I see」

「Yeah」

Brother didn't say much, but I could tell that he was worried about me. Shiratori-senpai is still quite suspicious, even from my point of view.

I don't know who this “genius” is according to Sato-chan, but she must be a classmate of mine. Even though it is less than a week before the summer vacation starts, she must be a serious girl because she has finished her homework.

A little after twelve o'clock and after preparing lunch for my brother, I leave the house.

Then, when I arrived at the family restaurant--

「Hey! Kizuna, over here, over here!」

Sato-chan waved her hand to me.

On the table, besides the drink bar, there were texts and notebooks spread out.

Across from Sato-chan sat a girl who looked familiar to me. Sato-chan and I are in the same class. But I believe she is from the next class.

She is a quiet girl with long bangs and her eyes are almost completely hidden.

When I sat down next to her, she turned her head shyly.

「Let's see, this girl belongs to our club, Moribe. Kizuna, Is this your first meeting with her?」

「Yeah, I vaguely know her face, but she's in the next class...」

In response to Sato-chan's introduction, Moribe-san just said in a faint voice, "I'm Moribe".

Yesterday, Sato-chan had sent messages to everyone she knew to see if they had finished their homework.

There were several people who had finished their homework, but only Moribe-san agreed to let her copy her homework.

However, looking at Moribe-san's behavior, I think the truth is, Sato-chan forced her rather than she agreed.

She is probably the type of person who cannot say NO to a request.

Even though it is summer vacation, it is a weekday afternoon, and there are only a few customers, so there is no sign of being kicked out even if we stay long.

While picking up a drink from the bar and a pile of fries, we begin to copy Moribe's notes lazily.

But when I saw her notebook, I thought to myself, "Are you serious?" because it was a decent notebook.

However, there was no way it would end with just three girls gathering together and quietly copying notes.

It's mainly Sato-chan who made a lot of noise, but gradually Moribe-san started to get to know us and joined in the conversation little by little.

「So, Moribe, how's it going with that brother(Onii-chan) of yours?」

「Bwah!?」

Moribe-san choked at Sato-chan's question.

「I-I don't care! I'm not going to do anything! I-I'm just happy to see him every morning.. at radio gymnastics...」

「Radio gymnastics? Are you a kid in elementary school or something?」

From her attitude, Moribe-san seems to be in love with a man she called, "Onii-chan".

Sato-chan made a dumbfounded face, then suddenly turned to me.

「Kizuna, as a true brocon, why don't you teach her some tricks?」

「You... Madiderau~ea(マジデラうぇあ)...」 (*Note => Seriously?)

I said, glaring at her, and Satou-chan gave me a puzzled look.

「Derau~Ea? What's that?」

「It's my original gal-speak. If I raise the end of the word, it's like "yeah" and if I lower the end, it's like "Gero(Vomiting)". I thought I'd give it a shot at the buzzword award」

「No, you can't」

When Sato-chan said this with a straight face, Moribe-san erupted with a “pfft”.

• it's an easy title to look up when you read it back later. （laughter）

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