A Night in Manesh

After passing through Jaeburg and returning to Manesh, the five decided to rest for now.

They slept for a while, and when they woke up, it was already evening.

Serge lay on the bed in the room prepared for him in the royal palace, thinking about various things.

But those thoughts weren't about the Millennium or the Great Collapse. They were about Chrys's choice.

"That's not fair, Chrys…"

Perpetual youth and immortality, while not complete invincibility, was considerably close to it.

Living for hundreds of years, thousands of years. Why had she chosen such a curse?

Serge thought it was because of his own inadequacy.

That Chrys had obtained perpetual youth and immortality to gain power as well.

He was misunderstanding her.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door.

"Serge, are you awake?"

It was Chrys's voice.

"J-just a moment!"

Running his fingers through his disheveled hair to smooth it, Serge opened the door.

Chrys stood there wearing a coat over thin undergarments.

"Dressed like that… come in for now."

He let Chrys in and closed the door.

When he turned back toward the room, he felt something soft.

It was Chrys's body. Her chest pressed against him, and her warmth and scent enveloped Serge.

"Chrys…"

"Serge, please make me… your wife."

The girl spoke in a voice flushed with passion.

"I understand."

Serge turned to face Chrys properly and firmly grasped her shoulders.

"For a thousand years… or even longer, will you live together with me?"

"Yes, if it's with you."

Tilting their faces carefully so her glasses wouldn't get in the way.

The two kissed firmly.

 

*

 

That day, Ria was sleeping with Carla.

They weren't doing anything; they were simply sleeping together.

So when one of them noticed, the other noticed at the same time.

"It seems someone has come."

"Who could it be?"

The barrier around Manesh's royal palace was created by Carla and Guinevere, who had poured the very essence of their magic into it. It wasn't something one could easily infiltrate. And to leave almost no trace at that…

"The Demon King…?"

"That would be nice."

The two quickly finished changing and stepped out into the courtyard, which was being swallowed by the evening darkness.

Before them, a single figure descended from the rooftop.

A man with unremarkable features and no expression.

He wore ordinary leather armor, but the longsword hanging at his waist was clearly impressive.

"Who are you?"

Ria asked, her hand on Kotetsu. The man spread his hands before his chest.

"Would you understand if I said Yamato, head of the Black Cat Trading Company?"

It was a name any reincarnator would immediately recognize. Ria included, of course.

Which made her all the more curious about his real name.

"May I ask your real name?"

"If you seem trustworthy after we talk, I'll tell you."

This was the royal palace courtyard, and his audience was the queen. He was an intruder, yet his demeanor showed no sign of remorse.

Ria liked bold people like this.

"Very well. But may I bring in more people?"

"I don't mind, but you should limit it to only those you trust."

"Of course. Then, let us move to another location."

Ria personally guided Yamato to the gazebo and asked Carla to gather the relevant parties.

As an aside, this interrupted Serge and Chrys's passionate moment.

Those who gathered at the gazebo were: first, Yamato. Then Ria and Carla, who had been there from the start.

Guinevere, Serge, and Chrys joined them.

Among them, Guinevere had also noticed when someone infiltrated the barrier she had created, and she knew he was no ordinary person.

And Serge simply knew him.

The man's face remained in the Great Sage's memories.

"The Saint Emperor… Ryuke Shifaka…"

He was a human from three thousand years ago. Among everyone he had met so far, excluding the Divine Dragon Valis, the longest-lived was Azel at one thousand years.

As everyone was surprised by Serge's words, the man smiled wryly. It was a smile that looked forced.

"So there is a successor to the Great Sage. Indeed, I am Shifaka."

"What business does the Saint Emperor have here?"

Even facing her distant ancestor, Ria's attitude didn't change.

"I'll be direct. I want you to cooperate in the battle against the demon race."

"Is this to prevent the Great Collapse?"

"If you know that much, why won't you fight?"

While the others watched the exchange nervously, Ria spoke confidently.

"Because I don't want to."

"You don't want to?"

Even at those blunt words, Shifaka's expression didn't change.

"I… we have become too involved with the demon race. And now that we know they aren't evil, we cannot kill each other."

"Even with the Great Collapse at stake?"

"That's just it. What exactly is this Great Collapse? Even in Serge's knowledge, there are only fragments, and Valis won't speak of it either. What happens in the Great Collapse?"

"I see, so you heard about it from Valis…"

Shifaka seemed to be thinking. And the answer he gave was not satisfactory.

"If she answered that way, it would be better if I didn't answer either. But I'll ask again. Do you have no intention of fighting the demon race in this Millennium?"

"You're persistent. Besides, I have no intention of showing good faith to someone who won't tell me anything."

"Then there's no reason for me to stay here…"

When Shifaka stood up, Ria's hand went to Kotetsu.

"Don't misunderstand. Now that the Great Collapse has become unavoidable, there's no point in depleting this world's fighting strength."

Even so, Ria didn't remove her hand from Kotetsu. She was aware of just how dangerous the man before her could be.

But Shifaka remained relaxed as he walked out of the gazebo.

"When the Great Collapse comes, we will fight together. I'm counting on you then."

"I feel like I still have many things I want to ask, but very well."

And Shifaka flew off into the distant sky using flight magic.

"In the end, we didn't learn anything."

Ria muttered. Carla was telling Guinevere about Valis.

"If we could meet Gonbei-sama, we might learn something…"

In Guinevere's mind, the Demon King was still Gonbei.

At that moment, a lady-in-waiting entered the gazebo.

She had been told not to come except in emergencies, so of course there was urgent news.

It was the news of the Magic City's fall.

"No…"

Chrys slumped weakly in her chair. A preliminary report had already arrived, but the details were still unknown.

However, she was then informed that her father, the Earl, had survived.

"My brother? Do you know what happened to my brother?"

Unfortunately, that was the limit of the information. Once again, Chrys leaned back weakly against her chair.

"Nee-chan, I'll take her…"

Leaning against Serge, Chrys left the scene.

"We managed coexistence here, but it seems things didn't work out over there."

Guinevere spoke tiredly, leaning back against her chair.

"It's much easier to rule after defeating them in battle once. That's why we can't let our guard down here either."

Before Ria could even finish speaking, another report arrived. This time it was a preliminary report via magic.

It was news of the Allied Forces' victory in the First Battle of Falsas.

"Isn't this… actually bad?"

What Carla worried about was that humans, emboldened by this victory, might become aggressive toward the demon race.

"We're going back to Jaeburg. Can we leave things here to you?"

Ria and Carla stood up, and Guinevere nodded.

"But at least look at your children's faces before you go."

Ria and Carla looked at each other.

These two had very little awareness of being parents.