The owner of this body.
She was killed by your ancestor, Hayase.
The will of the vessel within Fushi compels him.
Do the people praise him as a god, or do they call him a servant of the devil?
He's a servant of the devil!
What came to him was even more hardship.
Crime and Forgiveness
Restrained and unable to do more than breathe...
What could they possibly gain at the end of such a time?
For most creatures, it's as follows:
Much as though their breath has been stopped, they slowly, slowly forget
what they had been doing and what they wanted to do.
Bonchien Nicoli la Tasty Peach Uralis.
It's you!
That bastard from the Church of Bennett!
Cylira.
You will be put on trial beginning tomorrow for heresy.
Repent for your mistakes and offer prayer to God.
Only then may you be freed.
I'm getting out of here!
Heresy or not, my daddy's gonna get you!
Indeed.
I've already received ransom money from Uralis.
Enough for three.
But it is tainted money created by the demon, Fushi.
It has been rejected.
Farewell until the trial tomorrow.
Hey, don't be so down.
We'll be there for you, even if you do get executed.
Dying isn't all that bad.
Shu'p!
No dead man knows how I feel!
Stop trying to cheer me up and go find a way to save me!
Actually...
I'm afraid of heights, so I can't leave here.
Me, too.
Why do you care? You're already dead, you cockwombles!
Get me out of here!
I'm here, Daddy! Mommy!
Shut up.
You're too loud.
Well, well, boy...
You must have been here this whole time. Who are you?
Chabo.
I got taken here for stealing bread.
Fool! If you didn't have bread, you could have just eaten a peach instead!
Uralis is known for its peaches!
We're in Ilsarita.
Oh, right.
And the lady next to you?
Your mother?
What are you talking about?
She was taken somewhere else.
We were captured together, but...
I'm sorry to say it, son, but I don't think your mother is alive anymore.
Mom isn't dead.
Y-You suck!
Do you think you can get away with laying hands on a prince?!
You're the one who sucks, Your Highness.
How could you tell him his mother's not alive?
Fine, I suck!
What good would it do to lie?
What you see is the only thing worth believing.
Keep holding on to faith in what can't be seen,
and you'll eventually be stricken by despair.
Just like how Daddy chose my brother over me behind my back.
We hereby begin the first inquisition.
State only the truth in response to all questions.
According to reports, you captured Fushi in the Kargal region.
How did you discover Fushi amidst the crowds?
I was taught how to find him.
By whom?
I guess you'd call them spirits?
Why did you believe these spirits were not servants of the devil?
Dunno.
They seemed perfectly reasonable.
They're all great people.
And what do they look like?
They look all sorts of ways.
One's got a sword in his head. Another's missing an arm.
A lot of them look how they did when they died.
But not all of them.
I'm surprised.
This whole time, people thought you were having episodes,
but you were actually seeing things.
You can see the dead.
Is that correct, Your Highness?
Yeah.
Meal time!
Take it!
Yay!
A slice of bread for each of us.
Bread!
It's been a long time.
This is nowhere near enough!
My body's a few times bigger than a kid's...
You can have some of mine.
You're such a good child!
I shall invite you to Uralis someday!
Jeez, you're hopeless.
I'll give you half of mine.
I already ate some of it, though.
Brilliant, Todo!
You'll lose some weight, too. Two birds, one stone.
Sure, whatever, Your Highness.
Thank you, Todo-san.
I'll give half of mine to my mother.
You used the power of the devil to create and share food,
as well as weapons and money.
Have you ever felt guilty for such actions?
Save the starving, and everyone's happy, no?
Where's the crime in that?
Recite the prayer in Chapter 2, Verse 26 of the Bennett holy book.
Eh?
"His smile feeds even a starving body."
"Nourish your body with that which is given of Bennett,"
"and give thanks that He fills your soul"?
Thanks so much, Todo.
By the way, where did you get this thread?
I had it in my shirt.
That's how I managed not to get stabbed by the sword.
Aw, I thought it was thanks to your flab.
So...
What flowers do you like, Prince?
Flowers?
I mean, I like any flower.
If I had to choose, peach flowers.
What do those look like again?
Is there anything else that you like besides flowers?
Swords and crowns, then.
And why you ask?
Oh, no reason.
Do you believe that your power was given to you by God, as well?
Dunno.
Why do you believe you have the power that you do?
Well...
Because I'm in a position to share that power, I guess?
Why you?
Why not your brother?
Why do you believe God chose you over anyone else?
Because I'm going to become king...
The God of Bennett provides equally to all who are without.
If your power is of God, you will prove it.
Black hair.
A beige ribbon and reddish clothes.
The nail on her left pinky is short.
You there.
Does that sound familiar?
That's the woman you dragged away from this boy and murdered.
Is this true?!
No!
Speak the truth!
Silence, everyone.
In what way is this an act of God's giving?
Dunno.
This is nonsense!
Yeah! Show us real proof!
Silence!
Why did I ever want to become king?
No...
I never had any sort of noble purpose.
The sunset.
I hope we get to see it again tomorrow.
This light...
I didn't want to give up my dream.
That was all it was.
Huh?
Where am I?
What's happening?
What was I doing?
Huh?
I have to...
Eh?
Status report.
Several weeks have passed.
Fushi has been repeating a cycle of briefly waking, then sleeping again.
He loses consciousness in two breaths, and regains it in six minutes.
Thoughts can't be formed in such a fleeting awakening.
He tires of thinking and forgets everything that is.
What?!
Your Highness, is your cage descending?
It can't be...
Are our cages on a pulley?
Look!
Crocodiles!
Help!
Wh-What is happening, Prince?!
We're back!
Are you all right, Chabo?
Such brutality against a small child, for just a loaf of bread...
No, wait...
Did they bring him here just to balance our weights?
Dinner!
Prince, I'll hand you some right away.
No, I'm good.
Have it for yourself.
Hey!
When are you letting us out?
Can't you at least let Todo and Chabo out first?
They may leave if you can prove that you are blessed by the grace of God.
How am I supposed to make you believe me when you keep us
trapped in here no matter what I say?
Chabo!
I'll be all right.
Give me medicine!
Chabo's in danger!
If God hasn't forsaken you, that child will be saved.
Fushi hadn't forsaken him.
His flesh burns.
He emits heat from the palm of his hand.
Molten iron.
But with nowhere for it to flow, it rends his body.
Regeneration and creation, over and over.
At this rate, Fushi's body will turn to ash.
The iron presses against all that is there, rending everything.
But Fushi's heat was ever so slightly persevering.
His awakenings every six minutes soon became once every nine seconds.
He could now hold on to consciousness.
By being bathed in iron,
Fushi soon gained the regenerative capacity to counteract the heat
and the means to transmit his strong will to his body.
Cylira!
I thought you'd sealed Fushi away!
Have we angered God?!
He's a demon!
Water! Freeze it with water!
Yes!
Fushi-sama!
Yes! We've defeated Fushi!
It's over.
Everything is doomed.
Stubborn bastard...
Impressive decision-making, Cylira!
The events of this night will long be remembered in the city of Entus!
Justice has prevailed!
The Church of Bennett is victorious!
I'm impressed you managed not to lose sight of yourself for such a long time.
I would never.
Well done.
Why can you change into so many things?
Why are you so weird?
Why do you have so much?
Why are you so special?
It's so that you can give to the people around you.
What the?!
Fushi!
Have you come to save us?!
Below! Below!
They aren't going to eat us cage and all, are they?!
The Yanome sleeping poison.
Let's run, Bon.
Y-Yeah.
Take this boy first.
You, too, Bon. Hurry.
Hang on.
Even if we get away, the Church of Bennett isn't going to give up.
That's fine.
They haven't noticed anything.
They think they have me stuck in iron and trapped forever.
Everyone here is dead.
Now, get on, Bon.
I'm staying here.
Why?
Cylira's goal is to show the people that you're a servant of the devil.
That's definitely why they captured me.
Not to punish the wicked, but to make them confess to sin.
That's all they want.
They'll never be satisfied with my dying here.
Then they'll continue hunting heretics until they're done.
Me, my family, my servants...
Todo, the Guardians...
The people who love you...
I have to adhere to the rightful procedure of the trial and leave on my own.
Will that save you, Bon?
Yeah...
If I could be allowed one thing?
What's that?
To confess that you are a servant of the devil.
It isn't demons that they can't accept.
It's the existence of someone to be revered as a new God.
Cylira says he'll free me if I admit to my sins.
I'm sorry, Fushi.
I'm always in favor of living.
Hang in there.
I'll be waiting.
Take Todo with you, too.
And tell him I said,
"I'm sorry I couldn't make the right decision."
Huh? What the?!
Fushi-san!
Stay quiet.
That was admirable, Prince.
Yes, truly.
Oh...
I forgot to tell him...
Tell him what?
Nothing.
This is fine.
Fushi, you don't need me anymore.
You're already in good company.
In one night, two have died and the cages have been destroyed.
Just what is happening here?
A demon came and took their lives.
I must have been spared because God is with me.
How dare...
I'm just joking.
Don't be so gullible. Jeez.
Here's the truth: the demon knew I could see, and wanted me to convey a message.
"Why would I take orders from a demon?!" I said.
That's when it said, "Watch what'll happen to you!" and sucked their souls out.
What did this demon look like?
It had turkey wings on its back.
It had purple skin and lipstick.
It had bushy shoulder hair and ear hair and moss growing all over.
Worse, it was wearing tacky pink tights and reeked of cat pee.
Oh, how horrible...
A-And what is its message?
"How dare you trap my man in iron?!"
"But this is the last time."
"Don't ever pursue us again, or else..."
"We will kill you."
In other words, Bonchien, you've witnessed evidence that Fushi is a demon.
Yeah.
Do you confess that Fushi is in league with the devil?
Yeah.
Then do you admit to your mistakes, cease your fascination with Fushi,
and declare to us your faith to God,
that is, your allegiance to the Church of Bennett?
Nah.
I love Fushi.
Well, all's going according to plan.
I've only got a few more hours.
I guess I'll make confessions or something.
I was the happiest man in my nation.
I thought I could have everything I could see, after all.
The throne of the king, Fushi's very being...
In order to ensure I would have those things, I threw a protracted hissy fit.
But in reality, despite having powers,
I was no more than a coward, quivering in the face of my reality.
Bonchien Nicoli la Tasty Peach Uralis lived an entirely impotent life,
and is now about to bring it to an impotent end.
I was a pitiful man who lived in the castle attic,
who snuck into the kitchen and consumed the food.
Even on the day the castle was attacked, I was preoccupied with the food in front of me.
And then...
I, too, met my end having protected no one and having been helped by no one.
Such an unceremonious death.
Bon-sama, no one has made as noble a choice as you.
You lied to Fushi, didn't you?
You had no intention of being saved.
By playing the villain and allowing the Church of Bennett to be heroes,
you protected Fushi and the people.
I'll be by your side.
As will I.
Some things in this world can be seen, and others cannot.
It took me such a long time to understand something so obvious.
Because I was under the impression that I could see everything.
Including the future, of course.
Prince, do you have any last words?
Nope.
I am Bonchien Nicoli la Tasty Peach Uralis.
I will now die.
It's raining.
Let's begin.
Daddy, I'm sorry I was a disappointment.
Mommy, you won't have to worry about me anymore.
Pocoa, keep our home warm after I'm gone.
Torta, take care of the Kingdom of Uralis for me.
You'll do a fine job.
Fushi, I'm honored to have met you.
Preview
Prince Bon's death.
The people of Uralis weep for his valiant end.
With Fushi declared a heretic, the Guardians are disbanded.
The Nokker in Kohaku's left arm begins to speak its own aims.
Beyond Dreams