Elsa and Meili:
The Assassin Sisters' Dark Diary, Kill 3

1

The first time she laid eyes on her, it truly was a blood-stained sight.

Sitting in the middle of a red, blood-soaked field was a silent little girl. Her round, wide eyes—the wild and long, dark blue hair. Her childish figure was stained with dirt and mud, and the only thing covering her naked body was a tattered, dirty cloth.

That cloth, covered in dew and excrement, was the only thing remotely normal about what one could easily tell was a little girl. But what was truly strange about the scene was far more obvious.

Covering the little girl were the black stains of dried blood. But none of that blood had come from the girl herself. The source of the blood staining the field was the remnants of slaughtered bodies scattered all across it.

The field was part of a well-known witchbeast breeding ground.

Witchbeasts were the enemy of humanity, beings of destruction that existed only to destroy other living beings. Their danger was on another level from ordinary beasts, and some even held the potential to cast magic. And unlike beasts, they could never be tamed, and it was impossible to cooperate with them.

That’s why witchbeasts were the enemy of humanity, and why this place, which a herd of witchbeasts had settled in, became a place in which humans could never again set foot.

The entire area that the people had evacuated several years prior had become a den of witchbeasts. And in the forest their numbers multiplied, and any weak soul that entered would be eliminated. That’s why the numerous corpses surrounding the girl were not a strange sight, but in fact quite possible. What was strange, however, was that the corpses surrounding the girl were not of humans, but witchbeasts.

And the one who had made them that way was the girl.

“This is a much greater welcome than I was expecting. I don’t have any intention of harming you though.”

The little girl turned away from the field of witchbeast corpses. In front of her was a tall, pale girl with her hair tied into a braid. She looked to be about fifteen years of age, and her body was starting to form its feminine shape. And there was an immoral charm flowing from her that only an immature age could give.

Those deep, black eyes would likely bewitch many boys.

If it wasn’t for the knife she was holding in her hands, that charm would most likely get her mistaken for a high-class prostitute by many men.

However, the black-haired girl showed no interest in showing off her beauty, and at this point, it was all the same to the girl she was confronting.

The blood-covered little girl continued to glare in hatred at the girl who covered her in blood.

There was no sign of gratitude for eliminating the herd of witchbeasts. To the little girl, the witchbeasts were not enemies, though they could not be called family either.

At the very least, there was a strong emotion in her that could not be compared to the girl in front of her. In the little girl’s gaze, there was no friendliness, only sadness and killing intent.

In her heart was an overflowing urge to kill, in her eyes was an overbearingly animalistic gaze. These were proof of the tumultuous life this girl had, short as it may be.

Many would pity her for having such a life. But there was no such expression on the girl’s face. There was no compassion in her, no fragment of pity to be found.

Ignoring everything they could have learnt about each other after having met, the two girls engaged.

“Are you angry that I’m trespassing on your home? Acting like that, you really do look no different from a witchbeast. You must be the queen of witchbeasts… No, princess seems more appropriate.”

“Grr, grrr.”

“If you can’t talk, then you probably don’t understand what I’m saying. Unfortunately, I’ve been ordered to bring you back. Even if you resist, I will bring you back alive. If you don’t resist, then I can do this without hurting you.”

“Aohh! Aohh!”

“So you can’t understand. Well then, show me how you are going to resist.”

The little girl screamed as if she would throw a tantrum, while the girl loosened her lips and lowered her head. The girl’s braid slipped off her shoulder, and the little girl smacked her hand.

The next moment, a large shadow fell over the field as if it had been waiting for that signal. With a crooked horn and a lion’s head, black fur, and massive claws, it was the unparalleled witchbeast, also known as the Black King of the Forest, the Guiltylowe.

“!!!”

With a thunderous roar, the air rushed past the girl like an explosion, carrying with it a foul smell. Gazing into the overwhelmingly dreadful appearance of the beast, the girl simply licked her lips. “Such a large friend you have there,” she said. “Fabulous, simply fabulous.”

Despite the danger to her life that was standing in front of her, the girl continued to remain calm. As if irritated by such an attitude, the Guiltylowe raised its claws and swiped at the girl to end her life in a single stroke.

With a force comparable to a hurricane and claws sharp enough to cut steel, the girl was split apart—or at least she should’ve been.

“That’s no good. You have to be gentler with girls.”

“...!”

The girl smiled gracefully as the front right leg of the fiend was sent flying. Its sense of balance lost along with its right leg, the witchbeast suddenly found itself the prey as it fell towards the girl. At that the girl jumped lightly into the air and prepared her blood-stained knife.

“A body incomparable in size to humans… What kind of insides will you show me?”

2

From the dreaded forest of witchbeasts, the Queen of Witchbeasts was born.

That story started a few months prior, when a merchant had escaped that forest with his life.

Entering the forest to escape the rain, he claimed he had seen a human girl leading the witchbeasts when he was chased by them far from the path. He was dismissed as making things up, but that story traveled from village to village and soon became a tale told around the table at the local watering hole.

That story was never proven either way and in a few months became a folk tale…

“And that’s it, I suppose.”

Just like the smiling girl declared, the fallen witchbeast had lost most of its lifeforce. It was completely one-sided. The howling beast struck with all of its might, but each and every attack was swiftly evaded by the girl, who would carve out pieces of the beast’s flesh with every counter.

From the first strike, the witchbeast stood no chance. After the right leg was cut off, the tail, the back leg, and the center of the back vanished to her blade. And in the end it could only give a small whimper as it begged for death.

Of course, such an understanding could never be achieved between man and witchbeast, so the beast’s wish went unheard. As a result, the witchbeast struggled until its very end.

“The strange color must be a product of its diet. Or maybe it’s particular to this one? It smells terrible, but I would love to compare it to another one… Can you call another one?” asked the girl as she searched the freshly killed beast’s stomach with her knife covered in its entrails. But the little girl did not respond; she just continued to look on in hatred.

Unfortunately, the little girl had nothing else to fall back on. No matter how miserable its end was, the Guiltylowe was her greatest weapon. And with it gone, she had nothing left.

“I see, so it is over… That’s too bad.”

Taking her silent glare as an answer, the girl stopped playing with the corpses. Seeing her start to walk towards her, the little girl stiffened. The knife in her hand had taken the life of a witchbeast that had ruled the forest, and in only a moment. And if that knife was targeted at her, then the little girl would have no means to protect herself.

However…

“…Ah.”

“There’s no need to worry, I did say I was going to bring you back. It’s not like I have no interest in your body; it’s just not enough to go against my orders. Relax.”

“Gao! Gaaoo! Aooao!!”

“...It’s not pleasant to be hated so much. My heart can’t heal such damage so fast.”

As she lifted her up, the little girl struggled with all her might. But because she was suffering from malnutrition, there was little she could do against her captor.

And so, the best that she could do to stop the girl was screaming as loud as she could.

“Gaoo, aooo!!”

“I understand wanting to kill me, but it’s impossible in your current state. Biting my neck only tickles… First you should focus on getting better.”

The little girl was biting her neck, but with her weakened jaw and teeth, it was doing little. Like the girl said, it was only tickling her. The girl continued walking, leaving behind the blood-stained field and the witchbeast forest in general.

During that whole time, the little girl continued to bite the girl’s neck. Her hatred running dry, her killing intent fading, she continued to nibble at the girl’s life with all her might.

And she would continue until her life expired.

3

“Aguu.”

“...Hm? What’s wrong?”

The black-haired girl, Elsa, tilted her head at the pair of lips being pressed against her neck. Her long braid tickled Meili’s nose as she pressed her face in.

Meili just made a strange face before replying, “Nothing. Just remembering the past a bit. About the time I just met you, and how I tried to kill you by biting you like thiiis.”

“...Ah, such a thing happened, didn’t it? But you were so small, it was like being bitten by a small dog. It just tickled.”

“That was the best a kid could do. But you killed all my beloved witchbeasts, so I wanted to kill you in the worst way possible.”

Puffing her cheeks out, Meili plopped herself down on the couch and hugged her knees. Seeing that protesting gaze, Elsa shrugged her shoulders uncharacteristically while lounging on the couch. “I believe I said at the start that I wasn’t there to kill you.”

“Who would believe that after seeing you chop up all of my witchbeasts? You really haven’t changed since then, have you Elsa?”

“And you’ve changed quite a bit since then. You couldn’t even speak before, but now you’re talking so well.”

“...It’s not fair that you can speak so easily to people who are worrying so muuuch.”

Elsa could only look on in confusion at Meili’s pouting. For someone who was without the understanding of the human heart like Elsa, understanding another’s feelings was impossible.

But Elsa’s words were not wrong. In fact, when she had first met Meili, before she had been taken to human lands, Meili was closer to beast than man. It was not that she hadn't learned human words, it was that she had forgotten them.

The little girl back then had lived in the wild without the help of anyone. For that to be possible, what was needed wasn’t words but power. And luckily for her, that had been with her since she had been born.

Whether that was her salvation or her damnation...was beyond Meili’s understanding.

“If that hadn’t happened, then I wouldn't have been punished by mama all the time.”

“But if it wasn’t for that, then I would have never met you. You would’ve been all alone.”

“I think I would have been eaten by witchbeasts first. You really are an idiiiot, Elsa,” giggled Meili.

“Oh, such a foul mouth. But that's a twisted way of looking at the past.”

“Reallyyy? Then what other ways would you suggest?”

“If I hadn’t gone to retrieve you, then I would have never met you. That would be terribly lonely. You’re like my sister now. That’s why taking orders from others isn’t always so bad.”

Meili’s eyes went wide at hearing such an unexpected answer from Elsa; all she could do was look at her in bewilderment.

Elsa in return could only look at her in confusion. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“...Our first meeting was crazy, and now you’re saying things like this. You really are a strange person, Elsa.”

“I’m well aware I’m not normal, and it’s because I’m not normal that we can be like this. You and I are birds of a feather, strange sisters together.”

“That’s so stupid,” Meili spit out as she turned her face away.

Shrugging her shoulders at Meili’s attitude, Elsa reached out and softly touched her blue braid. “You’ve gotten better at braiding. Your hair used to be all over the place before.”

“That was the one thing you taught me well. Shouldn’t you stop leaving it to me when we’re together?”

“What's wrong with that? You’re better at it than me.”

“Keep showing me your neck like that and I might bite you to death.”

Meili puffed out her cheeks as she let Elsa play with her braid.

“It’s fine. You won’t bite anymore, right?”

“I just bit you.”

“That was just a jest, not like it was back then.”

“...What about you? Do you ever want to open up my stomach?”

Those words were meant to be revenge, but it was still a strange question.

Elsa pondered for a little bit before replying, “Let’s see, I still have some interest in your insides. But not enough to destroy what we have here. Don’t worry.”

“...Hmmm, I see…. Hmmm.”

Meili did her best to respond with little emotion and replied with only lazy responses. But she sat a little closer to Elsa on the couch and continued with the directionless conversation.

From a distance, without the smell of blood that lingered on them, it looked like just a pair of sisters chatting peacefully.

END