Crest Worm

At the sound, Illya abruptly stood up from the sofa in the living room.

Sasuke remained calm. There was no danger approaching the main house.

The screams soon died down. It probably wasn't anything serious.

Still, the scream brought Sakura Masayoshi and Toru Hirata out of the study. The moment they opened the door, the room filled with a pungent smell of smoke.

As for Kaoru Sakura and Saori Hirata, they must have been sleeping too soundly to wake up.

Sakura Masayoshi couldn't help frowning. At a time like this, surely nothing else could go wrong?

Worried, Sakura Masayoshi glanced at his friend, Toru Hirata.

Toru Hirata looked utterly exhausted. He couldn't take any more trouble.

So Sakura Masayoshi tried to reassure him first.

"Nothing serious should've happened..."

"Sasuke, could you go take a look and see what's going on?"

Sasuke nodded calmly, then opened the door and headed toward the place where the screams had come from. Illya followed close behind.

The commotion had broken out in the hall.

While the friends and relatives had been keeping vigil, the coffin containing Ichiro Hirata had suddenly started moving!

A strange insect had chewed a hole in the coffin, which had been sealed shut.

But as the insect crawled out of the coffin, it fell heavily to the floor.

The insect looked like an arthropod and had a pair of wings, sharp fangs, and razor-sharp limbs. It was about the size of an adult's fist.

A foul stench wafted from its body, which was smeared with nauseating flesh and blood.

The source of the flesh and blood was obvious: Ichiro Hirata, who lay inside the coffin.

The insect that had fallen onto the hall floor wasn't quite dead. Its wings beat slowly, and its body continued to writhe disgustingly.

The people nearby recoiled in fright, and that was what had prompted the screams.

If ordinary people weren't frightened by something this bizarre at a funeral, that would have been the strange thing.

While everyone covered their noses and mouths, their minds racing, Sasuke and Illya entered the hall.

Illya frowned as soon as she saw the insect on the floor.

She understood where the traces of magecraft lingering in the hall had come from.

And the insect wasn't dead. It had simply eaten its fill.

Illya tugged at Sasuke's sleeve, wanting to warn him.

But while everyone else was still focused on the disgusting insect, Sasuke quietly formed a lightning needle in his hand.

[Chidori Senbon]

In the blink of an eye, Sasuke struck the insect right in the head.

Its brain was destroyed, and the insect writhing on the floor instantly dropped dead.

The lightning needle was inconspicuous, so no one present noticed it.

Once they confirmed the insect was dead, the people in charge asked the household servants to clean it up.

But the incident had deeply unsettled everyone there.

Along with their fear, they were curious about Ichiro Hirata inside the coffin.

After all, the insect had crawled out of the coffin. What had become of the body?

But no one dared to bring it up.

Seeing that the commotion had been dealt with for now, Sasuke left the hall.

Lights illuminated the spacious courtyard, but their dim glow couldn't dispel all the darkness.

Sasuke had intended to head straight back, but Illya pulled him over beside a lamppost.

With his back to the light, Sasuke's expression was impossible for Illya to see.

Thinking over what had just happened, Illya fell silent for a while before speaking to Sasuke.

"That insect just now was a Crest Worm, if I'm not mistaken."

"It's like an artificial Three Corpses Worm. It's a familiar that feeds on its host's magical energy to maintain its ability to move."

"If its host has no magical energy, the Crest Worm will use their life force as food and attack relentlessly."

"Once it's eaten all their life force, it'll eat its host's flesh to get nutrients."

Illya frowned slightly.

The Hirata family were all ordinary people. Why would a mage target them?

To take their magical energy?

If that was the case, then they were truly wicked.

Crest Worms could also be used as surveillance devices, though they were rather crude.

But Crest Worms had other uses as well. For instance, if they were implanted in a human body and cultivated, they would become nerves similar to Magic Circuits. They would merge with the original nerves and spread throughout the body.

The Magic Crest formed from Crest Worms remained dormant most of the time. But once activated, it worked much like the situation she had just described.

They could also live inside their host, devouring them from within to grant all sorts of abilities.

In short, it was a disgusting form of magecraft.

After hearing all that, Sasuke remained expressionless.

"Stay out of it."

"Let's go."

With that, Sasuke turned and left.

Illya was already used to Sasuke's personality, so she didn't say anything. She had only been explaining things to him.

If Sasuke didn't want to get involved, she wouldn't either.

Back in the main house's living room, Sasuke told Sakura Masayoshi and Toru Hirata, who were sitting on the sofa, what had just happened.

But he didn't say much, only that someone had been frightened by an insect.

As for the details and what had happened, if the Hirata family wanted to tell the old man, that had nothing to do with Sasuke.

Toru Hirata sighed when he heard this.

"Sorry for the trouble, Sasuke."

Then Toru Hirata looked at Illya.

Toru Hirata knew Sasuke, but he didn't know Illya. He turned to Sakura Masayoshi and asked:

"Masayoshi, who's this young lady?"

Sakura Masayoshi introduced Illya to Toru Hirata.

"Her name's Illya. She's Kaoru's friend."

Actually, Sakura Masayoshi knew how old Illya was. After spending these past two months together, he had come to think of her as his own granddaughter.

Under normal circumstances, Sakura Masayoshi would have been eager to boast about it.

After all, at his age, it was a rare blessing to have so many young people living with him.

But with Toru Hirata in this state, Sakura Masayoshi didn't have the heart to say much.

Toru Hirata sighed.

"With Ichiro gone, I don't know who can take over as the person in charge at the company."

Sakura Masayoshi looked sorrowful, but still tried to encourage his old friend.

"You're in good health, and that girl Saori is clever. You'll definitely get through this!"

"If you need any help, just ask."

Toru Hirata closed his eyes and slowly waved a hand.

"That's enough. Just hearing you say that means a lot."

"Come on. Have a few drinks with me."

Sakura Masayoshi sighed softly, stood up, and helped Toru Hirata off the sofa. Together, they slowly headed toward the study.

Before long, only Sasuke and Illya were left in the living room.

But whenever the two of them were together, they were usually silent.

Knowing this all too well, Illya leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes.

Staying here was so boring.

She'd be better off going back to selling fish.

That was what Illya thought.

Meanwhile, Sasuke took out his phone and began composing a text message.

The recipient was:

Shirou Emiya.