Evil Black Maria - Chapter 107. Two Artists

–The atelier was permeated with the smell of blood.

There were several canvases with bright red paintings lying randomly on the floor.

 

“La la la la la la”

 

The quiet humming of a slow melody echoed through the large, square, bleak room.

A thin paintbrush ran across the canvas to its rhythm.

 

“La la la la la la”

 

Holding the brush, humming a tune, was a woman.

A petite, doll-like woman with bright, cherry-red hair.

 

“Painting, Painting”

 

The paints on the palette beside her were all red.

So, inevitably, every time she ran her brush over the canvas, it was painted red.

 

Lighter, darker, brighter, dimmer.

With subtle shades of red, the woman painted a landscape.

 

“Drawing, fun, bloody, bloody – Are?*”

 

Eventually, however, the paint on the palette ran out, the brush stopped moving, and the humming died away.

The woman looked around and her eyebrows dropped in annoyance.

 

“It’s over……”

 

A murmur escaped her lips.

The woman left her chair and walked to the corner of the room.

 

There – hanging upside down – was the corpse of a man whose head and arms had been chopped off.

 

“Ah……I guess it’s over.”

 

Looking into the bucket under the corpse, the woman’s annoyance intensifies.

Without the material for the paint – fresh blood – she cannot complete the painting.

 

“In trouble. Roselindé is in trouble”

 

With her small shoulders slumped, the woman, Roselinde, sat down on her knees.

She felt that her brush had been moving smoothly today, but there was nothing she could do about it.

 

“Mmmm”

 

However, the deadline is approaching fast.

Roselinde folded her arms and wondered if there was anything she could do.

 

Think, think, think this through.

 

“….Guu”

 

Suddenly, she fell asleep.

 

–Even though she is a grown woman, her figure was smaller than that of Mary and Ilze.

Perhaps due to her unusually prominent stunted growth, Roselinde was extremely unskilled at thinking deeply.

 

“Munyu…”

 

Roselinde curled up on the dry, blood-stained floor and began to sleep peacefully.

The contrast with the corpse hanging nearby was horrifying.

 

“Hey! Roselinde, wake up!”

 

An ear-piercing scream shook the bloody air of the atelier, which had previously only been filled with the faint sound of sleep.

It had been some time since she had fallen asleep.

 

“Mu….Muni?”

 

“No, I’m not!”

 

As Roselinde rubs her eyelids, the back of her neck is grasped like a cat’s and she is lifted up with ease.

And so her gaze is drawn forcibly to a pair of raised eyes.

 

“Fluff….Fluffy?”

 

“Don’t fall asleep, seriously! How many times do I have to tell you not to sleep in my atelier, tens of times, hundreds of times, thousands of times, before you understand it!”

 

It was almost the time of year when one would need a coat, but she’s wearing clothes that expose a lot of skin.

Her skin is wheat-coloured and smeared with sweat, as if she had been beside a fire only a short time ago.

Removing the bandana that held her auburn hair, the woman placed Roselinde on a chair and looked down at her with a sigh.

 

“Since you’re weak. If you want to sleep, you should sleep in a bed. Unless, of course, you want to die.”

 

“…..I’ll die, scary scary.**”

 

Roselinde shook her head repeatedly.

Her body was trembling slightly.

 

“You’re angry ,scary scary.”

 

“I’m not mad at you. I’m just saying, don’t sleep in my atelier.”

 

“so scary scary.”

 

“The f*cking virgin is in the office doing his work. Earlier, he was having a dispute with some of his patrons over a deadline.”

 

The woman, Claire, shrugged her shoulders as though it didn’t matter and said.

The moment Roselinde heard this, her face paled.

 

“Scary. Deadline, scary scary”

 

“Ah? Is it possible that you haven’t finished your painting yet?”

 

“It’s not good. That’s why I’m scared.”

 

She ran up to the empty bucket, took it and turned it over while repeatedly saying ‘scary scary’.

Then Claire, too, scratched her head in a troubled manner.

 

“Ah, I see…… Actually, I’m running out of firewood, too.”

 

She glanced over at the hanging corpse.

Every drop of blood had been drained from the flesh and bone, and it looked like it would burn very well.

 

–The disposal of the bodies in the Second Unit of Black Maria was quite simple.

After all the blood has been drained, they are burned to ashes in a furnace built in Clare’s atelier.

 

Then, using their blood mixed with Josette’s medicine as paint, Roselinde paints the picture.

The flames from the burning of the dried corpses are used by Claire to make pottery, and the remaining bone ashes are mixed with clay to form the material for the pottery.

 

Paintings in red, painted with fresh blood. Pottery kneaded from bone ashes and baked in the flames of burning people.

Their use of human materials in different forms is a masterpiece that attracts many.

 

But – without the material, the artwork cannot be created.

 

“This is all we’ve got?…..Damn it, I’ve got a deadline soon too.”

 

“Deadline scary,  scary scary.”

 

As Roselinde cowers, Claire wonders what should be done.

It was at this moment that the door to the atelier was opened.

 

“Are you there, Roselinde?”

 

With a quiet shout, a large, robust young man with orange hair in an all-back*** enters the room.

It was Hound, the captain of the Second Unit of Black Maria, their superior.

 

“What a f*cking virgin. Need something?”

 

“……don’t say that right to my face, Clare.”

 

Hound mutters, his shoulders slumping at her as usual harsh attitude.

Roselinde looked at him and nodded her head.

 

“Clare. Who is that? Deadline?”

 

“No,no, that’s a virgin.”

 

“Oh……so scary.”

 

In one swift movement, Roselinde hides behind Clare.

Hound was so taken aback by the response that he crumbled to the floor.

 

Claire, watching him, clicks her tongue in annoyance once again.

She stepped closer, ready to kick him out of her studio.

 

“Hound? Erm, what are you all doing?”

 

But at the same time as she took the first step, another figure appeared, following Hound.

Clare’s eyes opened extremely wide , and she stopped moving at once, not taking a step further.

 

Then Roselinde pointed happily at the figure that had appeared.

 

“Ru-”

 

A fresh corpse, dismembered only a few hours ago.

One of its pieces of flesh was squeezed like a fruit.

 

Red blood gushes out. It fills the empty bucket with a gurgling sound.

A special chemical is added and the whole thing is stirred up.

 

Soon afterwards, the blood was prepared to be used as paint, without losing any of its colour.

 

“Come on, Roselinde, it’s ready.”

 

“Wow”

 

Roselinde looks down at the bucket of paint and her eyes light up with joy. A peculiar smell, similar to iron, pervades her nose.

 

“Ru-, Thank you thank you. Scary, deadline not scared”

 

“Haha……You’re welcome.”

 

With a wry smile, Shizuru Lifted the heavy bucket and carried it to the canvas.

He then carefully wiped his hands with a handkerchief, which were now covered in blood from squeezing the pieces of flesh.

 

“Clare. Is that enough firewood for you?”

 

“Hmm, which one?”

 

Claire takes the offered pieces of meat and feels them with her fingertips.

 

The muscle fibres have been squeezed so tightly that they have lost most of their elasticity.

Even if one were to trace the cross-section of the chopped parts, there was hardly any blood seeping out.

 

“…… looks good. Thanks a lot Shizu-tan,here’s a hug!”

 

The corners of Claire’s mouth lifted in a small smile and she nodded in satisfaction.

She then hugged Shizuru tightly, as quickly as she said it.

 

“Get away from Mother!”

 

“Tta!”

 

A moment later, however, she was hit in the abdomen, and was pushed back forcibly.

She looked down and saw Mary’s little fist digging deep into it.

 

“Wait, ouch, stop, that hurts ……!”

Her fists repeatedly strike Clare, a woman not so different from Casca in size.

Her fist strikes, aimed precisely at the vital points of the human body, were not powerful, but they were effective.

Claire’s face twisted and she staggered back.

 

“Don’t come near my mother!　Next time I’ll stab you with a knife!”

 

“Tta~a…..you’re so tiny, yet so fierce…….”

 

As intimidating as a wildcat.

If she were to touch her, she could bite her fingers off.

 

“……You’ve got a pretty rowdy kid on your hands.”

 

“Haha…”

 

A young child who causes Claire, who is by no means a gentle person herself, to feel intimidated.

 

Shizuru chuckled at the words muttered by Hound.

Shortly afterwards he felt a small tug on the hem of his dress.

 

“Ru-”

 

He turns around to see Roselinde with a sleepy look in her half-lidded eyes.

She looks up at Shizuru, who is over 50 centimetres taller than her, and makes him tilt his head down.

 

“Roselinde wants to paint on Ru’s knees”

 

“Mine? Well that’s fine, but……”

 

What will Mary say?

He glanced at her as she threatened Claire, and thought for a moment.

 

Shizuru’s lap is Mary’s special seat.

At least that’s what she herself strongly believes.

 

In front of Mary, him putting Roselinde on his lap.

It was clear from the very beginning that she was going to be extremely furious.

 

“Knees, Knees”

 

But Shizuru’s hesitation did not deter Roselinde from making him sit down in the chair in which she had been sitting.

She then sat down on his lap, as she had requested, and smiled with satisfaction.

 

“——Ah”

 

Naturally, Mary noticed immediately.

She shook her shoulders, then gritted her teeth violently.

Soon the air in the studio was filled with a rage that would have made the faintest of hearts scream.

 

“Wha—-What are you doing! Get away, Get away right now! That’s my place!!”

“Knees”

 

An angry scream erupted.

But Roselinde didn’t even hear her, she just laughed cheerfully.

 

Roselinde rubbed against Shizuru like a kitten nuzzling its mother.

The gesture brought Mary’s emotions to a boiling point.

 

“Get away, get away—– GET AWAY!!”

 

Two knives hidden in the back of her dress.

She pulls them out and rushes forward straight away.

 

“——-Stop it”

 

On impulse, Mary tried to stab Roselinde to death.

But Hound intervened.

He stepped in front of Mary and stopped her by grabbing both hands that held knives.

 

“Let go of me!”

 

“No. And if I let you go, you’ll be in for a world of pain.”

 

A twist of the wrists and the knives fell.

The sharp blades, which had been remade from a broken sword, easily struck the floor and made a light sound.

 

“Roselinde may look like an ordinary person, but she is a skilled gunner. Don’t get too close.”

 

At least in melee combat, she is more skilled than Ludmila, who also used a gun as her weapon of choice.

Hound had heard of Mary’s talent and skill, but in his opinion she was still no match for Roselinde.

 

In other words, if she were to jump in with just her emotions, she might suffer severe consequences.

Above all, he didn’t want Roselinde to suffer any unnecessary injuries.

 

“Now we’re running out of time for the deadline. The patrons who want that picture are a hard connection to find, so stay out of the way.”

 

“No! Let me go!”

 

Hound’s words of warning were only met by Mary’s fierce shaking of her head and screaming.

 

On Shizuru’s lap, Roselinde hummed as she painted.

Just the sight of her was enough to make Mary’s stomach churn.

It was not something that she could tolerate.

 

“It’s a mess…… All right. Then I’ll take care of it.”

 

After letting out a sigh, Hound released Mary’s hands from his grasp.

He looked at Shizuru, who had been watching them anxiously, and walked over to him.

 

Two stern eyes looked down quietly at Roselinde, who was in a good mood.

Eventually she noticed and looked up at Hound.

 

“Roselinde. Captain’s orders, leave Shizuru’s lap.”

 

“So scary scary.”

 

She clings to Shizuru tightly and gives him a frightened look.

Hound’s eyes twitched at the same treatment as usual, but he stared down at her with a hard expression.

 

“If you don’t listen to me….I’m going to pull you off by force.”

 

Hound slowly extends his black gloved hand towards Roselinde.

He reached out to snatch her by the back of the neck, hoping to force her off Shizuru in the process.

 

However,

 

“Scary, scary. Scary scary”

 

She quickly goes through her pockets and pulls out a gun.

As soon as the trigger is squeezed, the gun fires loudly, and lead bullets fly out of the muzzle.

 

“Gufu—!?”

 

Hound was taken by surprise, and at close range he was unable to avoid the shot, which put a hole in his stomach.

He staggered around on his feet, coughing up air and blood from his lungs.