Chapter 17:
Return to the Everyday
LOOKING AT THE FIREWORKS exploding in the sky, the demons were very excited. They danced and sang, practically starting a party right there on the spot. Before they knew it, even Linus and Tsyon joined in, and the commotion grew even louder. Meanwhile, Ottilie, Henriette, and Herrmann, who were still unconscious, were carried into the castle by Eterna and Werner, while Echidna was taken away by Dhiza and brought to the dungeon of the Demon Lord’s castle. Amid all of this, Sheitoom apologetically beckoned to Cyrill.
“I sincerely apologize for doing this so soon after the battle has ended, but I have a request.”
“I think I’m about to fall asleep due to the recoil from Brave, though.”
“I just wanted to hear your answer about something before that happens.” Cyrill had used Brave when they arrived in Tokyo. It had only been for a short time, so the recoil should also be brief, but apparently, Sheitoom was in a great hurry. Sheitoom put her hands on her chest and approached Cyrill with a serious expression.
“Miss Cyrill, I would like you to reseal Origin.”
“Reseal…?”
“The seal on Origin is currently loose. The writings related to the seal have also been tampered with, and so the original, correct form of the seal is unknown. Therefore, we’ve been considering using the power of the Hero to reapply the seal.”
“All right. I think this is also a hero’s role.”
“Really…?! Thank you so very much! I shall prepare a thank-you gift, of course.” As Flum watched their conversation out of the corner of her eye, Gadhio approached her and spoke to her.
“Flum, you may need to stick around here for a while yet.”
“Me? Well, I guess maybe I should try destroying Origin itself before attempting to reseal it…” After hearing Flum’s words, Neigass interrupted their conversation.
“That’s impossible. As long as the seal remains, it’s impossible to influence Origin itself with magic.”
“I see… Okay, in that case, what would my role be?”
“I want to entrust you with destroying the central core.”
“You mean the core that Necromancy uses for controlling things, right? Did the Chimera use it, too?”
“Linus tried to destroy it with his Reversal core, but it seems like it was impossible for him.”
“Meaning it was still in the fortress… So did it end up getting blown away somewhere?”
“No matter how powerful the explosion, the core cannot be destroyed with the power of Reversal.” They thought it was likely that the central core had been blown away by the blast and fallen somewhere.
“The Chimera are still stopped for now. But we don’t know when they’ll start moving again.”
“It’s better safe than sorry, as they say.”
“But we don’t know where it could’ve fallen… It’s possible it could be at the bottom of the sea.”
“If you really can’t find it at all, we’ll continue looking ourselves. We want to thank you for all of your help, Flum, and, speaking for the demons, I’m sure everyone would be happy if you stayed a little longer.”
“In that case… I suppose it’s okay. Right, Milkit?” Milkit nodded in response to the question. She thought that Milkit would have wanted to go home, but Flum’s presence was what was most important to her, so it seemed like it was okay.
“Of course, we’ll join in the search too, and—” As Gadhio was speaking, a deep voice came through the communication device.
“This is Satuhkie. Can you hear me, ladies and gentlemen?”
“Whoa, a voice other than Chatani’s came through.”
“Satuhkie should be in the royal capital. Can the range reach this far?” As Flum and Neigass were surprised, Chatani interjected to provide an explanation.
“There’s no need to camouflage these as communication devices anymore. Of course, in this era, where communication infrastructure has not yet been developed, this kind of communication is only possible because the units share brain cells that have been cultivated from the same person.”
“I don’t…understand.”
“It’s okay, Milkit. I don’t either.”
“More importantly, shouldn’t someone reply to him?”
“I’ll answer. This is Gadhio. Can you hear me?”
“Oh, Gadhio. We saw the explosion in the sky as well. Good work, all of you. I thank you.”
“Um… Excuse me, Satuhkie? This is Flum.”
“Oh, Flum Apricot! It appears you’ve been safely rescued!” Satuhkie became very excited, as if he were talking to someone he admired. Flum was puzzled, but she continued talking.
“How is the reconstruction of the royal capital going? Y’lla and Slowe should be there still, right?”
“Ah, yes. As for His Majesty Slowe, the coronation ceremony was quickly held, and he has already ascended to the throne.”
“Huh…? Slowe has become king?”
“I thought you already knew that he is of royal blood.”
“I do but has enough time passed for him to have become king?!”
“The royal capital has been ravaged by mysterious monsters, the royal army and Church Knights are gone, and even the king and the pope are missing. In a situation like this, there’s no time to waste. The people need something to hold onto for support.”
“Th-this feels incredibly fast…” Flum was dumbfounded, but Gadhio smirked sarcastically.
“Slowe is an ordinary man. There’s no way he can handle the task of being king. In reality, he’s your puppet, Satuhkie.”
“I won’t deny that. However, when he is ready to stand on his own, I intend to step back. I plan to provide him with a firm education…but he has an unexpected guardian tagging along, so I cannot do as I please.”
“Do you mean Y’lla?”
“Hmph. She is quite strong-willed.” If Satuhkie of all people was saying something like that, then she must have been quite strong. Flum thought it was good that she had the ability to act as a deterrent, but she also felt a little sorry for Satuhkie.
“So then, what’s the purpose of your call, Satuhkie? You didn’t just call us to praise us, I imagine.”
“Giving you commendation was one of my reasons for calling. But the main purpose of my call is something else. I am sorry to ask this right after the battle has ended, but, if possible, I would like a few people—oh yes, that’s right, people who are connected to the guild and the church—to return to the capital. As soon as possible.”
“Hey, now wait just one minute! We’ve only just finished fighting, remember? At least give them time to rest!” Neigass interjected, her voice full of grumbling, but Satuhkie also seemed to have reasons for not giving in to her demand.
“As I’ve mentioned earlier, the situation is currently unstable. Naturally, there has been a lot of discontent surrounding Slowe’s succession to the throne. The reason we were just barely able to make it work is because he’s acquainted with the heroes and entrusted them with the hope of destroying the floating city and smashing the church’s conspiracy… That’s the story, anyway.”
“Say what? So it’s a fabricated story to make Slowe appear heroic?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Even I knew that it was a stretch, but it was necessary.”
“Does everyone believe that?”
“I’m guessing it’s probably as you suspect, Flum, that they’re probably half in doubt. Unless we go back and tell them ourselves that it’s the truth, it wouldn’t be surprising if the capital exploded with dissatisfaction at any moment.”
“It helps me a great deal that you understand so quickly. The guild is cooperating fully with the reconstruction, but they are not very trusted in political circles. The same holds true for the surviving forces of the church, especially since they are motivated by morality and detest false stories.”
“And there’s one more reason, too.” Chatani cut in to add that. “Inside the communication devices I gave you are, essentially, parts of my brain. The devices were made in a rush, so the anti-decay measures are inadequate. My brain will decay and become unusable over time, so please bring them back as soon as possible. They may contain wonderful memories.” Most likely, he was talking about the look on Huyghe’s face when he died. Even before his true identity had been revealed, Chatani might have suspected that he was “Hirashiki.” Gadhio spoke up in response.
“Well, in your case, Satuhkie, I’d say you’re just reaping what you’ve sown…or at least, that’s what I’d like to dismiss this as, but I suppose there are some who would like to return home quickly. However, considering the distance, they likely won’t arrive at the royal capital until tomorrow or later. I trust that’s fine.”
“Yes, thank you. It’s appreciated.” Satuhkie spoke with a slight sense of relief, and then the communication ended. Flum, hearing his voice, felt that he must have had his own struggles.
“Gadhio, are you going to return to the royal capital?”
“I’ve been keeping Kleyna and Hallom waiting. I’d like to spend as much time with them as possible.”
“Oh… I suppose that Eterna and the others will be returning too, then. Ink is in the royal capital, right?”
“Yes. She should be accompanying Nekt, who is undergoing treatment.”
“He said that he also wanted people related to the church to come back, too. So I imagine that means Maria will be going back…and if so, that means Linus will be going with her.”
“I think that Sara and I will probably be heading to the royal capital as well.”
“Why you too, Neigass?”
“Since the royal kingdom had so brazenly invaded the demon realm, we will need to have a discussion. Besides, even if Cyrill can return us to the vicinity of the royal kingdom, I’ll need to use my magic to get us the rest of the way.” If Cyrill used Return and Neigass helped carry them the rest of the way, then they should reach the royal capital in a few hours. However, if that happened, the number of people remaining here would decrease dramatically.
“Master… It will be lonely, won’t it?” Milkit said.
“Yeah,” Flum said in agreement.