Chapter 46

Epilogue Potato Village was a few hours away from Dog Valley by walk. The faces of the villagers remained dark and cloudy, long after the deafening roars finally subsided. They started in the wee hours of the morning. “I wonder if those heroes who passed by yesterday managed to defeat the demons?” “Dunno. I think we might see them pass by again, beaten up and bloody as they scamper away like the troops from Boar Kingdom.” The villagers gossiped among themselves for a while, but they eventually headed off to work in the fields. They didn’t have the luxury of standing around, trembling in fear. Just as the sun started to rise, one young man noticed a strange figure approaching them. “Ah, that’s…” He recognized the resplendent priest robes hanging on a man in his thirties. The man was unsteady on his feet, dripping sweat as if he’d been running until a moment before. His face was contorted, tormented. “Are you all right?!” cried a young man. “That…heretic…” The young man ran up to him, offering him a shoulder to lean on, but the man remained unresponsive, his eyes empty. He didn’t even seem to notice the young man there. I bet he’s an important priest. He must have run away from the demons upon his defeat. I gotta find him a place to rest somewhere. After he led the priest into his own home and set him down in a chair for the time being, he dashed off to the village chief’s house to ask him for guidance. “Hey, I need to talk to you,” he called out upon entering the house. He didn’t even bother to knock. That wasn’t unusual in their village. Their population came out to a grand total of one hundred. Everyone knew everyone. When he peeked in from the entryway, the young man could see into the bedroom—where the chief was lying, stark naked, with the pink-haired servant of the merchant Manju, Ribido, by his side. “Chief, are you…?” “Ah! I-it’s not what you think!” “Hmm, is it morning already?” Ribido rubbed her eyes and languidly lifted herself from the bed, next to the village chief, who was trying to stammer out some excuse—any excuse. The young man bashfully looked away from her well-endowed figure and turned, speaking toward the wall. “I need you to come with me. There’s some guy who came running all the way to the village. I think he might have been one of the priests who went to Dog Valley.” “Wh-what?!” sputtered the chief, scrambling to yank on his clothes. Together, they sprinted out of the house. “Mr. Priest, we’re coming in.” The chief rapped his knuckled on the door politely before tugging the door open. But the door didn’t budge an inch. “Why isn’t it opening?” “Hmm? That’s weird.” The young man gave it a good yank, but it didn’t unlatch, or give even slightly. This was particularly odd because it didn’t have a lock or anything fancy on it. The only thing that the young man used to keep the crude door closed was a dead bolt on the inside. But it was like the door had been fused into the wall. “Mr. Priest, please open the door!” The young man’s voice went up a notch. Nothing. Just as the pair shot each other a look of confusion, a shout echoed through the house. “…No…I did it…for…” They couldn’t hear it very clearly through the door, but it sounded like the priest was having a conversation with someone. He was desperate, as if backed into a corner. Then— “Please forgive me… No! No… GAAAAaaaa—!” A bloodcurdling scream rang out inside. “Mr. Priest, what’s happening?!” The young man pounded on the door with his fists. “Hmm? What’s going on?” a drawling voice asked from behind them. The young man whipped around to see Ribido, properly dressed in her maid uniform and sleepily rubbing her eyes. “Well, there was this priest guy who came running from Dog Valley, and he shut himself in my house, and now we can’t get the door open, and there was this horrible scream from the inside, and I have no idea what’s going on…” “Ahh, that’s terrible.” For a brief moment, her eyes glinted sharply, but in the next second, she flashed her stupid, goofy smile. Pushing him aside, she placed her hand on the door’s handle. No sooner had she concentrated and mumbled than the door unlatched in a breeze. “It’s open!” she announced. “Huh? That’s weird…” The young man scratched his head. It didn’t occur to him that the door had a Hard Lock spell on it and that the promiscuous maid in front of him had cast Dispel. Either way, the door was now ajar. He walked into the house. “Mr. Priest, are you okay?” Slowly and fearfully, he took stock of the room before casting his eyes on a figure kneeling in the middle of the floor as if confessing his sins. His back was turned to them. The young boy found it strange that the priest didn’t move even a muscle as he entered, but he walked up to him, relieved. “Oh good. I was worried because we heard this terrible scream—” As soon as he placed his hand on the priest’s shoulder, the body crumpled brittlely to the floor. “GACK—!” The young man screeched as he stumbled and fell on his butt. The priest figure disintegrated into sand, leaving his ornate robes behind in a heap. “Wh-wh—? What the—? What the hell happened?!” “C-c-calm down, just calm down!” stammered the village chief. “But someone just crumpled and…died?!” The chief was losing his mind; the young man was in shambles. Ribido stood there for a moment in quiet contemplation before beaming at the two men. “It must be a prank. I’m sure someone used magic to make a golem!” “…Golem?” asked the young man. “Yes. You know, a magic user can fashion dirt into a human-shaped doll, and they can move just like humans.” “Yeah, but…” The young man tried to say that the priest had definitely been an honest-to-goodness human, but clamped his mouth shut on second thought. Though some other villagers had seen the priest approaching, he was the only one who had been close enough to peer into his face. Even if he insisted on the truth, there was no one who could back him up. On top of it all, it was easier on his psyche to think this was a prank rather than fully process that a human had turned into sand—meaning they’d been destroyed beyond the point of resurrection. “O-oh yeah, a prank…” “Hee-hee-hee, I’d love to play a prank on you, too. ” “Hey, Ribido?!” the chief gabbled as he watched her cuddle up to the relieved young man. “By the way, what were you thinking, fooling around with Mr. Manju’s servant?” “Well, it was consensual! Plus, with my wife passing away, I was startin’ to get lonely…” “Okay, boys, I need to clean up so please take it outside.” She chased them both out of the room. The young man was getting visibly fed up with the chief, who was up in arms, trying desperately to defend himself. Once they left, her expression hardened as she lifted the robes of the cardinal off the ground. “I need to report this to Shinichi.” He was really going to chew her out for forgetting to report on the movements of the heroes, forgoing her duties to spend the night fooling around with the chief. But that was the least of her worries. “It’ll be too suspicious for me to hold on to all of it. And a pain. There’s no way to resurrect him, so this’ll do.” She took a handful of the sand and put it in a bag before sweeping up the rest and dumping it outside. When she finished cleaning the house, she sent a telepathic message to Shinichi—just as he was caring for Celes, who’d collapsed from exhaustion. Cardinal Hube was working for the God of Evil. This shocking truth finally made its way to the Archbasilica. Through a chain of telepathic messages, the survivors of the savage battle and the resurrected heroes at the Cathedral of Boar Kingdom sent their updates to neighboring cathedrals, which then reported to others near them as the news traversed the continent. There were some heroes that argued against that story—namely the ones who’d been killed by the Demon King before the appearance of the True One. But with Hube’s disappearance, there was no one to provide an alternative explanation. Eventually, everyone gave up trying to defend him, instead adding their angry voices to the din. The three cardinals cradled their heads in their hands as they sat in the prayer room of the Archbasilica, which had fallen into complete chaos. “Why the hell did this have to happen…?” “Indeed…” Effectus hung his head, betrayed by the so-called messiah, and looked as if he’d aged ten years, as Snobe rambled on, lost and confused by the news. Vermeita had on a tense expression, scrunching her face as if plagued by a persistent headache. That’s what it looked like on the outside anyway. “Yes, but nothing will happen if we sit here grumbling in self-pity. Let us discuss the future.” “You say that, Cardinal Vermeita, but how can we possibly get this under control?” They’d welcomed the young cardinal with pomp and circumstance in front of all those people in the Holy City. But it’d been discovered that he was an unholy priest serving the god Elazok, the exact antithesis of a priest in the service of the Goddess. “Rumors are already flying around. Some of the people are screaming their heads off, blaming us for selecting him as cardinal. We’re absolutely done for.” If they let the situation escalate, the masses would start to riot, claiming that the other three cardinals were also unholy priests. If that happened, they wouldn’t just lose their status: The church itself would crumble. “I’m aware. Which is why we must make it public that we were neither deceived by him nor working with him. We must tell the people that we were frightened. We must tell them that we had to go along with him because he threatened to kill the people of the Holy City,” Vermeita suggested. It was a lie that Hube had threatened to use the people of the city against them. But it wasn’t completely false. After all, they were intimidated by him. “We must show penance, of course. We lacked the strength necessary to stop him. We will step down as cardinals and… Yes, create a new rank of ‘archbishop’ below cardinal. Why not move to that rank instead?” she continued. “Hmph, I’m sure we can negotiate with those terms.” They’d be punished with a change in title and reduction in their salaries, but they’d remain the three highest ranked people in the church. The result would be that things would remain more or less the same, but few members of the clergy would complain. After all, the majority of the church had been deceived by Hube’s ways, meaning many of them were afraid their own faults would come to light, especially for accepting the brand of a fake hero. “The people may not approve, but we can rebuild their trust in the future.” “Hmph, they have no power or money. The weakest dogs bark the loudest,” Snobe spat, unusually frank with his insults. Vermeita smiled at him. “That’s what we’ll do about this Hube situation. But what should we do about the demons?” “Indeed. There was a report that heroes at the battle took it upon themselves to declare peace with the demons, but we cannot allow this as followers of the Goddess.” Effectus had been silent until now but snapped his head up at the mention of demons. Vermeita cringed inwardly, but she’d prepared an answer in advance. “You’re talking about how the hero Arian and Saint Sanctina appeared on the battlefield and agreed on a cease-fire with the Demon King.” “Indeed. We cannot allow—” “Yes, you’re right. We cannot allow that. But it would be reckless to continue the war against the Demon King. We couldn’t defeat him with ten thousand heroes. And there are more dangerous enemies in sight—the agents of the God of Evil.” “Hmmm…” Hit with cold, hard facts, Effectus shut his mouth with a sour expression. But Vermeita knew these zealous believers wouldn’t accept logic alone. She showed outward sympathy with the cardinal. “Cardinal Effectus, this is a temporary cease-fire. This doesn’t mean that we will be building a relationship with the demons. Once we have defeated the agents of the God of Evil, we will turn our swords back to our original enemy and finish them off.” “Indeed. That is the Goddess’s will.” “…Heh.” Snobe let out a quiet snort at the sight of Effectus brought under control with ease. With these plans, they would by and large be able to take control of the chaos around them. Their only remaining issue— “That leaves the unholy priest. That bastard Hube will likely make an appearance again someday.” “……” Both Effectus and Snobe’s expressions clouded over again, chilled to the bone from imagining Hube returning one day to exact his revenge. He’d made a run for it from the battlefield in Dog Valley. They wouldn’t know when he’d get them back. “Yes, terribly frightening…” Vermeita forced her face to copy their dismal expressions, though she had intel from a certain dirty person that Hube’s days were over. Not that she was going to let the others in on that. “In either case, we can’t sit here worrying. First, we must deal with the problems immediately in front of us. Like the former prisoners resurrected at the Cathedral of Boar Kingdom. We must discuss the best course of action to handle these doll-people…” Vermeita continued to dominate the meeting. Night had fallen by the time they were adjourned. But Snobe hung around after seeing Effectus leave. He abruptly stopped Vermeita from following suit. “Cardinal Vermeita, I was hoping you could tell me something—no secrets, no tricks.” “What is it?” “You don’t believe Hube was an unholy priest.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. As I thought, he isn’t so easy to deceive. Vermeita wasn’t surprised. Effectus might have a one-track mind, but this man was clever. After all, he needed to be to satisfy his greedy desires. “I know the Goddess exists, of course, which means I don’t find it strange that there actually is an Evil God—servants and all. But the power that Hube displayed…” It was theoretically possible that the Evil God could act like the Goddess and mimic the ritual of granting people the status of an undying hero. Plus, the power to erase the prisoners’ memories and turn them into dolls was a power that seemed appropriate for the Evil God. But to take away Cronklum’s status as an undying hero—it wasn’t believable that the God of Evil would have the ability to remove the Goddess’s protection. “It’s said her protection is like a Geas spell. It can only be removed by the original caster or someone who is much, much more powerful than them. If we are to believe anything in the holy book, I find it unlikely that the Goddess and the Evil God are that different in power. Which means…” …that Hube had actually received his power from the Goddess Elazonia herself. It meant he actually was the messiah. Snobe didn’t say these final words aloud. Vermeita didn’t push it. She nodded quietly, agreeing with his points. “Yes. I doubt there is any such thing as an unholy priest in this world.” “…I see. Thank you.” He was surprisingly candid with his gratitude. With a stern expression set on his face, he left the room. Cardinal Cronklum has been turned into a simple old man. Both Cardinal Snobe and Cardinal Effectus have lost a lot of support. Cardinal Snobe has also lost more than half of his funds. He can’t prevent his own decline… Hee-hee-hee, it really does look like I might have a shot at becoming the next pope. Vermeita smiled to herself as she realized her dreams were within reach—dreams of creating a wonderful place where boys could love each other. But a shadow remained over her heart. “…Lady Elazonia.” She gazed up at the statue of the Goddess carved by the first pope. Vermeita might have her own dirty desires and not be as pure-hearted as Effectus, but she’d believed in and loved the Goddess. Right now, she wasn’t so sure. “Do you really hate the demons that much?” Why would she grant Hube that much power to destroy so many people’s lives—just to destroy them? She knew she wouldn’t be given the answer. But there was another answer that she wanted to know. “Are you really an ally to humankind?” The cold, stone statue remained silent. As an inexplicable heaviness pressed into her chest, Vermeita turned on her heel and left the prayer room behind. The cease-fire released the demons from any imminent threats from the undying heroes. They were hosting a multiday banquet at the Demon King’s castle to celebrate the occasion. “Bwa-ha-ha! Eat your fill, everyone! Drink as much as you wish!” boomed the Demon King as he gulped down the contents of a casket of ale. All around him, the demons ate merrily, even before receiving orders from their king. The dishes filling the table were worlds apart from the meager spread of their first banquet to celebrate the defeat of the first heroes in Ruzal’s battle party. Now they had potatoes and dark rye bread from farming villages in Boar Kingdom. They had goat steak, ale, and other delicacies from Tigris Kingdom. The table was overflowing with delicious dishes from all around the human world. “Wowww. Just as yummy as the first time!” Rino grabbed her favorite food of all—french fries—and melted into euphoria. “Yes, it’s wonderful.” Celes cast aside her deadpan mask, forgetting to maintain her stoic look in favor of a beaming smile. She was the real MVP this time. Shinichi had made her goat-milk ice cream to express his thanks. Even Sanctina grinned from ear to ear as she watched the scene. “My heart is about to burst from joy, just seeing Lady Rino look so blissful. And everyone else, too.” “Sanctina, do you have a thing for Celes now?” asked Arian. “Lady Rino is my one true love. But I like all beautiful women. Including you, of course.” “Th-thanks…” Arian took a step back, suddenly a little uneasy. She looked up at Shinichi next to her. He was busy chowing down on a sandwich with sliced goat meat, but he looked dissatisfied. “Eh, forty points. An F. Aside from the ingredients, the only seasoning is some mineral salt. It tastes bland. I could try to make some mayonnaise from eggs, but it won’t do much good if I can’t find some black pepper…” “Shinichi, you really don’t go easy on food.” “Well, I can’t help it if my standards are high,” he replied. His palate was used to modern Japanese cuisine, meaning these ingredients and cooking techniques seemed unrefined to him. “Gah, I’m craving some rice just thinking about it.” “Rice?” “It’s a grain, kind of like wheat, eaten a lot where I’m from. It’s Japanese soul food.” “…Oh, cool.” Arian looked away with uncertainty, which Shinichi didn’t notice since he was lost in thought. We’ve got a temporary solution. With Vermeita’s help, we can slowly reduce prejudices against the demons. If we succeed, we might not be attacked again by any heroes. They now shared a common enemy: The God of Evil. More importantly, most of the clergy members in the church were terrified of one hell of a strongman, the Demon King. This fear had been pounded into their brains. As long as the demons didn’t try to expand their territory, they probably wouldn’t have any more wars with the humans. Plus, it’s iffy whether Tigris is gonna actually drop ties with the church after this mess. To begin with, Tigris Kingdom had been fed up with the church for their violent tendencies. All they wanted was a healthy relationship on equal terms. The people of Tigris Kingdom had never wanted to display full-out hostility with the church. On top of that, the incubus’s brainwashing efforts had been successful, filling the holy warriors who’d formerly worked under Sanctina with love. They became sexual deviants—er, servants, working at the cathedral to heal the ill. Other than a few complaints from the male patients that the warriors stroke their chests from time to time, I think that’s a pretty big improvement from manipulation. Regardless, the kingdom’s relationship with the holy warriors got better, and they’d successfully chipped away at the church’s power, meaning the church wasn’t going to attack Tigris Kingdom anytime soon, especially considering that they were allies of the demons. There’s not really anything left for me to do. “Do something about the humans who keep coming back to life!” “Give my beloved daughter, Rino, all the yummiest food in the human world!” He’d completed both missions that the Demon King had given him. There wasn’t any reason for him to stay here longer. “Um, Celes. Your ice cream earlier? It looked really yummy. I’d like to try making it next time!” Rino exclaimed. “Of course. Sir Shinichi showed me how to make it. Next time, we shall make it together.” “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up. If you want Ice, Daddy can make plenty of that!” “Your Highness, I don’t think that’s the same thing, oink.” Shinichi watched as the Demon King family, surrounded by a crowd of demons, merrily carried on. He smiled softly, quietly standing from his seat to leave the banquet. Once everyone had passed out cold from the drinks, he slipped out of the Demon King’s castle, taking a small amount of gold with him. “It’s already been three months…,” murmured Shinichi, suddenly feeling sentimental as he looked back at the Demon King’s castle bathed in the silvery moonlight. Ever since the day the Demon King had summoned him to this other world, he’d been so busy with fighting off the undying heroes or trying to improve meals at the castle that the seasons had seemed to change in the blink of an eye. This constant barrage of new experiences made him feel like his life back on Earth was just a dream. The weight of the smartphone in his pocket was the only thing that proved his life on Earth hadn’t been a lie. “All right, time to go!” He pushed aside his feelings of longing, turned his back to the castle, and— “To hell?” Celes angrily blocked his path. “Ah! Celes, why are you here?!” “That’s my line,” she spat unhappily. Beside her were Rino and Arian, tears brimming in their eyes. “Shinichi, are you going to leave us…?” Rino sniffled. “Are you abandoning me…?” asked Arian sadly. “No, I’m… Wait, why are you three here?!” Shinichi repeated, instead of facing his throbbing heart. The two looked up at him with dewy eyes, like puppies left out in the rain. Celes pointed at Arian. “She was trying to sneak into your bed at night and saw you leaving.” “Was not! I was worried that Shinichi was going to go home— Hey! You also tried to go into his room!” “I had a question about how to make ice cream.” “You liar! I noticed that you’d changed into a freshly washed maid uniform!” “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Their bickering put Shinichi in an awkward position. He rubbed his temples timidly. Rino’s small hand latched on to his. “Shinichi, do you hate us…?” “No, I don’t. I left the castle because I love all of you.” She looked relieved as he softly stroked her hair. “Good. If you hated us, I would be so sad, I’d die.” “And I would die, too,” he replied. The triage of her father’s Blue Raging Flare, the lesbian’s Holy Torrent, and the dirty-minded maid’s False Dragon Breath would burn every last wisp of his soul away. Rino pouted at Shinichi as he felt a cold sweat drip down his face. “It’s so mean of you to leave by yourself without telling anyone!” “…I’m sorry. Half of it’s because of my own selfishness. The other part is I don’t really know where I’m going or how long it’ll take, so I didn’t want to make anyone come with me.” Celes and Arian finished up their argument. Arian came up to Shinichi and buried her face in his back as he made excuses. “You still act like we’re strangers… I told you that I gave you my life, my heart, my everything…” “I know; I’m really sorry.” “So will you trust me? Will you put your life in my hands?” That’s what he’d asked of her. If he abandoned her now, he’d only seem cool and unemotional on the surface—when he was actually just irresponsible. Maybe the weight on my shoulders—the lives of all those people, the demons, the people of Tigris—maybe it’s made me a pushover… Shinichi was taking a good look at himself when Celes took another jab at him, a huge grin on her face. “Oh yes, you have yet to make an honest woman of me. You’ve seen me naked, after all.” “Huh? Does that mean you’ll make me honest, too?” asked Rino. “…Shinichi?” Arian’s wet blue eyes sharpened, glinting with rage. Her pupils pointed vertically, long and thin, reminiscent of a dragon’s eye. Shinichi tried to change the topic in a fluster. “No, well, ahem… First, I was thinking that I would spread the Evil God’s threat to humanity throughout various regions to make sure the cease-fire continues.” “Hmph, and you’ll tell me everything afterward.” Arian pinched Shinichi’s back, but he just endured it and continued talking. “I think the church will be on its very best behavior for a year, but if there’s no threat from the Evil God during that time, people will forget him and come back to attack the demons again, right?” The best-case scenario would be if Vermeita became pope. She’d be able to change the church. But there was no guarantee that things would go that well. “So I was thinking that I’d start a bunch of rumors that the Evil God is here.” “I see. I understand what you’re suggesting. However, I wonder if one weakling would be sufficient to deceive people,” said Celes. “Urgh…” Words escaped him. She was right. Sure, Shinichi had created his own specialty spell, Element Conversion, thanks to the knowledge that he’d gotten on Earth. But his magic abilities weren’t greater than an average human’s. He couldn’t use an Illusion or Fly spell by himself, so he wouldn’t be able to convincingly act as a servant of the Evil God. “I’m sorry. It would be impossible without you, Celes.” “As long as you understand.” “Hmph…” “I can help, too!” As Celes held her head high as the chosen one, Arian enviously puffed her cheeks out. Rino volunteered, waving her hand to appeal to him, too. Shinichi calmed the two down before Celes pushed the conversation further. “You spoke as if that was only your initial plan. What else do you intend to do?” “Spreading these rumors is a way to fill my time while I’m working on my main goal,” replied Shinichi. He looked up at the stars glittering in the sky and spoke as if he was trying to send his words to someone up in the heavens. “I intend to uncover the true nature of the Goddess Elazonia and destroy the system that makes the undying heroes.” It was a declaration of war from a human against a god—a goddess who’d warped this world. “So no more heroes?” asked Rino. “Yep. If I don’t do that much, I won’t be able to forge a friendly relationship between the humans and demons, much less guarantee a future for the human world.” “No future?” asked Rino in confusion. Shinichi smiled. “It’s all fine and good that these resurrection spells exist. I think it’s amazing that you can learn from your mistakes even after you fail, you know, even if you’re punished with ‘death.’” He had one particular person who’d failed in mind. “But there’s something wrong with ‘heroes’ that won’t die. I know this feeling of absolute security will chip away at their hearts, making them weak and foolish. And yet, they’re the ones in positions of power, controlling people’s lives in any way they see fit.” All the corruption in the church was rooted in these heroes. Their arrogance could be attributed to it. They just didn’t value their lives. “…You’re right.” Arian nodded as she reflected on her own status as a hero, far too serious for her own good. In an attempt to console her, Celes patted her on the back before addressing Shinichi. “I still find it ironic that their physical strength as undying heroes is the driving force behind their demise, their weakened emotional states.” “There’s a saying, ‘A healthy mind lives in a healthy body,’ but it’s not always true. Now that I look back on it, the cardinals weren’t half bad.” “In what way?” asked Celes, scrunching her face up at the memory of the Holy Mother’s rotten smile and causing Shinichi to chuckle dryly. “Their methods to spread the Goddess’s word were honest, I think, and fair. Like, they were healing the wounded and defeating the monsters, and that was it. Tigris Kingdom had a few bones to pick with them, but they didn’t resort to brute force to try to get them under their control.” The church could have had their heroes suppress the dissenters anytime a new one cropped up. And yet, they only used these fighters to keep the demons in check, not letting them turn on their fellow humans or lay a single finger on them. “I’m sure that they verbally threatened that they’d dispatch the heroes on any unsavory characters. But I’ve never heard them follow through. Unlike Eument.” According to the stories, the first pope had unleashed his powers to destroy the heretical city of Mouse, casting the same Solar Ruin spell that Sanctina had once tried to use against the Demon King. It served as an example of the potential consequences of going against the church. “There’s always gonna be people who are totally convinced that they need to massacre those who go against her. Like the second or third coming of Eument—or Hube.” “Which is why you’re suggesting we eliminate the heroes,” finished Celes. Shinichi nodded emphatically. “Letting her law rule the land… Where’s the fun in that?” His eyes darted for just a moment to Arian’s right hand. That single glance was enough to enlighten the half dragon in love. Oh, Shinichi. You’re trying to destroy the heroes for me… The symbol of a hero was still on the back of her hand, even though it was hidden under her glove. And there was the mysterious death of Hube—another hero emblazoned with this symbol—after he’d fled from the battlefield. I only saw the robes and the sand when you told me about his death. I guess it still hasn’t hit me… But Shinichi had understood. He was certain of their next steps. If they didn’t do anything about the Goddess, the other heroes—including Arian—could be murdered in the same way. That was the reason he needed to find the Goddess and destroy this system that churned out these heroes and twisted this world out of whack. “Thank you, Shinichi.” Arian hugged him from behind as she tried to hold back her tears of happiness. He was a bit surprised by the sudden embrace, but he smiled and— “If you’re gonna try to press your boobs against my back, they gotta be bigger.” “Hey!” “Wait! I’m just joking! Please stop with the whole red draconic aura thing! Please don’t murder me!” As her eyes started to well up, Shinichi threw himself on the ground and groveled for forgiveness in front of Arian, who might have discovered a new power. It was so like him to act this way. Celes and Rino shared a smile. “Well, now that we know the goals of the mission, we should leave before His Ever-Annoying Highness wakes up,” the maid suggested. “Yessiree!” “Hold up. I get that Celes needs to come with me, but are you sure it’s okay for you, too, Rino? Won’t your dad be worried?” “It’ll be okay because I’ll be with you.”