9. The Art of Waiting
Excluding our group, that meant there were sixteen others.
That’s a damn lot.
Seriously, what is this?
Where are all these people coming from?
[2 people have had their limbs severed. Survivors decrease to 20.]
Even more brutal than Holloway.
I needed to meet at least one intruder if possible.
Once could be coincidence.
Twice wasn’t.
Someone was deliberately entering this place.
If so—
were the intruders human?
If they were, how had they gotten inside?
Did they know where the escape gate was?
‘If someone can enter, maybe someone can leave.’
Seeing how many intruders there were finally made me understand Suriel’s enormous collection of body parts.
I’d always wondered why there were so many people on a remote island……
So this was why.
I had no idea where the current intruders were.
I’d have to search while heading toward the unlocked room.
Hopefully I could meet one before everyone died……
Sighing, I opened the door to the small banquet hall.
Bright light spilled out—
something that looked impossibly out of place inside this hotel.
A beautiful piano melody flowed softly through the crack in the doorway.
It was as though only the world beyond that door existed somewhere entirely different.
“……Am I dreaming?”
“Are you sleeping while standing?”
“That was just an expression.”
What an unbelievably boring child.
“Why aren’t you going in? It looks fun.”
“What about this looks fun? Nothing here is fun.”
You idiot.
“What a funny young lady. Should I go in first?”
“Why does your voice suddenly sound so unpleasant?”
Holloway’s voice is thinner and prettier……
I had naturally answered the rough voice cutting into our conversation.
Then belatedly realized something was wrong.
I whipped my head to the side.
Seeing a man’s face extremely close to mine, I screamed at the top of my lungs.
“Aagh!”
Apparently my full-bellied scream startled him too.
His body jerked.
Then he examined me like I was some life-form he had never encountered.
“Miss, aren’t your reactions a little slow?”
What’s it to you?
Suspicious of how naturally he had approached me, I asked,
“Who are you?”
“I’m the one who wants to ask that. What is a young lady from what looks like some noble family doing in a place this dangerous? Ah. Did you commit some crime too, like me? Hehehe.”
The man rubbed his thick beard and stared at me.
When I didn’t avoid his eyes, he deliberately grinned.
He was large and muscular.
His face was covered in small scars.
Calling him a bandit would’ve suited him perfectly.
‘This is one of them.’
An intruder.
“Big sis……”
Pretending to be frightened, Holloway pulled me farther away from him.
The slightly open door to the small banquet hall closed on its own.
Silence settled over the corridor.
“Huh? There’s even a little runt? Just what is that thing we’re supposed to find that the Empress sent people here regardless of age?”
……The Empress?
My gaze sharpened as I observed him.
This man had already given me plenty of information without me even asking.
He assumed there could never be nobles like me—
or any humans besides their group—
inside this place.
That meant he knew how dangerous the hotel was.
How did he know?
Why were they here?
This was a great opportunity to find out.
I deliberately hid Holloway behind me and sent the man a suspicious look.
“Did Her Majesty the Empress send you too?”
“That’s right. You too?”
Instead of answering, I deliberately muttered loudly enough for him to hear.
“That’s strange……. Her Majesty said only we……”
When I acted guarded, the man lightly raised and waved both hands, showing that he meant no harm.
“Maybe because you and I have different ranks?”
“Ranks?”
“You’re a noble, aren’t you? No? What kind of crime did a pretty noble girl commit to end up somewhere this rough?”
The urge to stab his eyes surged through me.
The man’s creepy gaze dragged from my head to my feet.
When our eyes met, he deliberately licked his lips and pulled the corners of his mouth high.
[Holloway’s mood is beginning to worsen.]
[Holloway thinks, ‘I want to gouge out that bastard’s eyes for looking at you like that.’]
Not yet.
“I don’t know. Probably the same reason as you?”
The man clicked his tongue, spraying the smell of his breath around.
“Tsk. Did they send nobles separately? We’re all criminals, but even there they’ve got different classes or what?”
Watching the phlegmy bastard spit on the floor in irritation, I sighed.
You’re a criminal.
Why are you acting so proud?
Disgusting hairy bastard.
“Whatever the reason, we’re both stuck here now. Does it really matter?”
“Mm? True. You’ve got manners, young lady. Nobles really need to stop instantly talking down to people. Little brats see a commoner and immediately start speaking informally……”
Apparently realizing I was becoming bored with his increasingly long rant, the man stretched his arms.
Then asked,
“So, what crime did you commit?”
Just as I was inventing a crime so vicious that it would send chills down his spine—
a window appeared.
It had been a long time since one of these irritating things ruined my day.
[Anderson, who has committed crimes too horrific to describe, is curious about your offense.
➤What should you say?]
Long time no see.
I didn’t miss you at all.
Why did you show up?
Rather than being happy to see the window again, I wanted to punch it.
And I had nothing to say to garbage who had committed crimes too horrible to even put into words.
[1. Haven’t you heard of the serial killer Purple Princess?
((,,Ծ‸Ծ,, ))
- I’ve committed no crime. I’m the beloved youngest daughter of noble House Lodriz. Beautiful and noble, but somehow I ended up on this island with some damned little brat and……. Long story…….
((╹ਊ╹))
- You ignorant, filthy, heinous criminal bastard! How dare you consider yourself my equal!
(ᕙ( ︡’︡益’︠)ง)]
You still possess an incredible talent for driving people insane.
I hate all of them.
I hate every single one!
Purple Princess is weird!
It sounds tacky!
Even while I screamed internally at the wall, the timer continued faithfully.
With a solemn heart, I pressed number 1.
No choice.
I must become the Purple Princess.
I couldn’t reveal House Lodriz.
And I couldn’t provoke this hairy bastard who looked like he wanted to do something to me at any moment.
Once I got the information, I swore I would mercilessly discard him.
“Haven’t you heard of the serial killer Purple Princess?”
“Huh? What? Pur—what?”
“Serial killer Purple Princess. That’s me……. I’m pretty famous. You really haven’t heard of me?”
What?
You don’t know?
Seriously?
At the look I gave him, the man glanced between Holloway and me.
Then burst into exaggerated laughter.
[Holloway thinks, ‘That nickname suits her surprisingly well.’]
Thanks.
“Of course I know! Purple Princess! The noble serial killer Purple Princess! Sure, sure!”
You don’t know anything.
There is no Purple Princess.
Anyway, he fell for it.
“So you’re that famous serial killer Purple Princess?”
“Yes. See this mirror? Proof I’m a princess.”
“True. Carrying a hand mirror around in a place like this. Oh, and that ring looks expensive too?”
“Try taking it. I collect eyeballs.”
“Haha! Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.”
[Holloway bites his lip and struggles to suppress his laughter.]
Apparently he had no intention of helping me.
“What about you, then? You aren’t wearing prison clothes. Her Majesty told you to change clothes, right?”
I had thrown it out casually.
The man happily took the bait.
“Huh? Yeah. She doesn’t tell us much, but apparently even after we die, no one can find out we were prisoners.”
The Empress was covering her tracks so no one would learn she was smuggling prisoners out.
There was no need to worry about recovering corpses here anyway.
‘But how does the Empress know about this place?’
I couldn’t follow that question for long.
The man bowed his head and scratched the back of it violently.
“As for me……. I’m not a famous serial killer like Purple Princess, but I’m kind of fond of young girls.”
“What?”
“I mean.”
He suddenly reached toward me.
“I really like girls like you!”
The hand approaching me turned into a fist.
He planned to knock me unconscious with one blow.
I reflexively raised the mirror.
The man struck it with his fist and tilted his head.
“Hah. You blocked it? Guess the name Purple Princess wasn’t for nothing.”
“I’m very strong too, as expected of a serial killer.”
“Ha! Wha—”
[Hand Mirror skill ‘Reflection’ activated.]
Piiing―!
[Please state the body part where you wish to reflect the attack.]
“Solar plexus.”
The mirror flashed.
A fist-sized black lump emerged from it.
Then disappeared into the man’s solar plexus.
“What is th— Aaaaaagh!”
Confusion spread across his face.
Then he screamed.
His body trembled violently like someone struck by lightning.
He grabbed his stomach and collapsed to the floor, twitching.
Foam gathered around his mouth.
Drool dripped down.
I didn’t care.
I crouched in front of him.
“I’m strong, right?”
“Gghh…… gghkk……”
“Want me to hit you again? See this small, adorable fist?”
I waved my fist threateningly in front of his face.
The irritating bastard cried openly and shook his head.
“N-No…… don’t……”
“Then answer my questions without lying.”
Even nodding seemed difficult.
Still, the man moved his head faintly.
I possessed absolutely no mercy for someone who tried to grab random people and assault them.
In the Balone Empire—
and really, throughout this world—
people like him were regarded as deserving execution.
I had reincarnated.
But I was still someone raised in this world.
And I had grown up with the somewhat harsh belief that someone who committed a truly terrible crime deserved to die.
I had been educated that way since childhood.
So perhaps it was natural I thought like this.
I understood that this world’s laws were different from Korean law.
Maybe it was merciless.
Still, I personally believed people like him had no worth living.
“What are you searching for? I need to confirm whether it’s the same thing I’m looking for and whether the Empress actually sent you.”
“B-Box…….”
“…….”
When I silently glared, the man panted and explained.
“A-a white box……. Two wings are drawn on top of it……”
……What is that?
Why are they looking for it?
“How did you know this place was dangerous?”
“Ghk……. I-It’s famous……. Prisoners, including death-row inmates, disappear at some point and never return……”
“If they were executed, of course they wouldn’t return.”
“That’s not what I mean……. They literally disappeared right before they were supposed to die……!”
“How would you know? Maybe the execution happened earlier than scheduled……”
“Haaah…… We were death-row prisoners. We were imprisoned there for a long time.”
In other words, they had become acquainted with the guards.
And apparently guards chatted freely about all kinds of things to prisoners who were going to die anyway.
“The story that the Empress takes people away under the pretext of execution is common gossip even inside the prison……!”
So this happened frequently.
Prisoners without scheduled execution dates would suddenly disappear right before death.
No one knew whether they lived or died.
And this man had realized that sooner or later the Empress would take him too.
The Emperor wouldn’t care about each individual death-row prisoner.
So the Empress could easily bribe prison officials with money.
Especially because the Emperor treasured the Empress so much.
She would have plenty of ways to block his eyes and ears.
“What did she promise you?”
I threw out whatever came to mind.
If she wanted that box, knowing the Empress’s personality, she would certainly reward whoever brought it.
“T-To create a new identity for me……. Let me live an entirely new life……”
I see.
A white box with wings.
I could think of only one reason the Empress wanted it.
She believed it would allow the Prince to become Crown Prince.
Because that was the only thing inside the Empress’s head.
And the Empress was someone willing to use any means necessary to accomplish it.
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