Part 8: A Child's Promise

Chapter 7: A Child's Promise

Hello children, welcome back. Are you prepared for the next chapter in my little tale?
Tell me this one gets interesting faster.
Yeah, no offense, but it took a while to get going.
Fear not, for as I said today we start with a grisly murder!

VIDEO


As usual when we weren't preparing for a mission with La Pucelle, we were preparing for a service. While we were members of La Pucelle, officially we were just initiates of the church, and had to maintain that cover.



Like this?
Yes.
Prier...
Where are Mommy and Daddy?
Mommy and Daddy...
They've gone far away...
But I know that they'll always be watching over us...
No!



Please don't cry, Culotte! OK?
It's all right.
I'll take care of you from now on. Just like Mommy did.
OK?
(Mother, Father... Please don't worry about us.
No matter what happens, no matter how tough things get, I'll do my best!
I won't give up!
I'll be strong!
But...
Please let me be weak today...)


Oh, how sad!
You get over it eventually.
Yeah, I got over my parents' deaths pretty easily.
Really? That's now how I remember it going. I seem to recall you becoming a huge jerk so you could act like you weren't sad your mother died.
H-Hey! That's just how demons are, it wasn't anything to do with her!
Suuuuuure...
Boy this sure is an interesting story, keep going.



Prier never talks about Mom and Dad...
Oh Goddess Poitreene...
Please let me meet my Mom and Dad, just once...



That was great! I just love to sing! No one cares how loud I am!
Yep!
I feel like something good's going to happen today!

In retrospect, those are the times to duck down and get ready for really terrible things to happen.
Yep.

Hey Prier, listen... I had a dream about Mom and Dad last night.
Oh Culotte... What am I going to do with you?
You'll never grow up, will you?!
(Whenever I start to talk about our parents, Prier always changes the subject.)
She always treats me like a child...
Nothing wrong with having a dream.



After practice we went to Father Salade's office. We'd been told he had a mission for us.





That's Father Salade.
He started the Church of the Holy Maiden, and he's our boss, too.
He may not look it now, but he's a very distinguished man, and he's defeated hundred of demons.
He was also the one who rescued Alouette two years ago. She had completely lost her memory.
Sister Alouette became a demon hunter without even taking the test.
It's true that she's very skilled, but I kind of think that Father Salade is giving her special treatment.
I wonder if he's secretly in love with her...?
Nah!



You've gotta be kidding! And you have to play a giant teddy bear?
Hah! You never could stand up to the Director, Father.
That's the truth. I'd much rather be out fighting demons, but...
No, it looks good on you...
You're so cuuuuuute!
T-that's enough of that! I'm still your boss, you know!



An incident?
That's right.
You may have heard the rumors. In the last few months there have been many grisly murders.
Sister Olive is currently on the case, but as yet we still have no leads on a suspect.
W-wait just a minute!
Why should the Church of the Holy Maiden be investigating a murder?
Why can't the police do it?
Well... Why don't you let me finish first?
These murders have a certain disgust...



Publicly, they're being treated just like any normal murder...
What the public doesn't know is that in every case, the victims' hearts were ripped out.
Their... hearts?
That's right. Their hearts... ripped out.
But the really unusual thing is that in every case, someone else from the family is missing.
The Royal Police are looking for the missing people, but so far they haven't had any luck.
Sounds like an open and shut case to me. The missing family members did it.
It's just a matter of arresting them, right?
You'd think so, wouldn't you...?
But here's where things get interesting...
First, in every case, the room was locked from the inside.
A locked-room murder!
Second, as I said before, there is someone missing in each family.
The missing family members range from young boys to old women. They're all different.
Third, there was a message written in blood with a finger at the scene of every crime.
Fingerprint analysis shows that the finger belonged to the missing person in the family.



What do all these things tell you?
The prints belong to the missing people, but one person wrote all the messages...
And the missing people disappeared from a locked room...
But that's impossible!
Father, you're saying that the culprit is a shape-changing demon?
Precisely. Well done, Sister Alouette.
They assume the form of a family member to get close to their target.
And then they rip their victim's heart out.
It's likely that the real missing family members are dead and buried.
What do you think, Prier? Can a normal person do that?
Of course not.
That's why we've been asked to look into the matter.
This is a request directly from the queen herself. We can't refuse.



I'm currently trailing the suspect! It looks like he's headed for Mt. Tarte!!
Request backup!!
Roger. I'll send help right away.
I want you to go after the suspect immediately.
Use extreme caution! Repeat: Use extreme caution!
Roger!
Well, what are you waiting for? Get to the scene of the crime and help Sister Olive!
In the name of the Maiden of Light.
May the Goddess Poitreene watch over you all.
All: In the name of the Maiden of Light we ask...

Children, I believe we're out of time for today.
Aw, just when it was starting to get good.
Next time, though, I will continue this tale of horror. Until then, farewell...