“Well, you are right about that...” Orm admitted. “To tell you the truth though, I started having a little interest in that sort of thing a couple thousand years ago. Not that the person I have in mind even notices.”
“Really now? So you actually had someone like that. Still though, how dense can they be? Not noticing for thousands of years...?”
“Yeah.”
“Actually, wait a second. There aren’t many who live for thousands of years, are there?” Pollux asked. “As far as I know, I’m the only one who’s known you for that long.”
“You’re right about that.”
“I’m right...? Then who is it? There’s no point in even talking if there’s no one other than me. It’s not like there’s anyone else you could...be...attracted...to...”
After having talked it through, Pollux finally hit upon the answer. She paled instantly before slowly but surely becoming redder and redder.
“So you finally noticed?” Orm asked after a moment of silence. “You really are dense.”
Pollux was unable to respond for a moment. “Huh? What? Me? Seriously, me?”
The Fairy Princess and the Devil King locked eyes.
Having been watching them from his position, Saturnus whispered, “Other people’s misfortune is like honey, but their fortune tastes like dirt. Hey, Mercurius, we’re drinking ourselves under again tonight.”
“I’ll join you until we both go down.”
That day, two new couples were born at the wedding. Or were they?
＊ ＊
“Where are you, Miss Lufaaassss?!”
A black shadow flitted through Maphaahl Tower. The shadow was Scorpius, checking everywhere she thought Lufas might have been.
For some reason, Lufas had been missing since that morning. It wasn’t exactly a problem that she was gone for the day, and there was no one who could stop her from disappearing. The problem lay with Scorpius. I need more Lufasium or I’ll die! she thought, fairly serious.
The last place she went was the King Crab Eatery Moon Branch on Maphaahl Tower’s first floor, having thoroughly searched the rest of the tower. There she found Aries, Taurus, Parthenos, Castor, Sagittarius, Leon, and Karkinos of the Thirteen Stars gathered round.
“Hey, have any of you seen Miss Lufas?” Scorpius asked.
“No, she hasn’t come this way,” Aries answered, munching on some crayfish that had been boiled with salt.
There may have been those who wondered whether he should be eating crayfish, seeing as how Aries was a sheep, but he was also a monster. Their worries were unfounded.
“Ah, just where did she go...? I haven’t seen her for an entire day... Could something have happened...?!”
Scorpius lamented her situation in a grand, theatrical manner, which only caused Leon to get fed up and finally speak.
“She can take care of herself for a day. Actually, didn’t she just leave because you’re so persistent and annoying?”
There was basically no need to ever worry that anything had happened to Lufas as nothing existed that could harm her. Even if she ran straight into the sun, she would simply come out the other side just fine. Even germs and bacteria would be almost instantly killed the moment they entered her body. Taking things to extremes, basically the only thing that could kill her was her own life span. However, she could rewind time for herself at any point if she felt like it. In short, there was no need to worry.
“What did you say?! That’s cheeky for someone who’s only the strongest at making us laugh!”
“Huuuhh?!”
“Oh my, did I touch a nerve? Sorry for speaking the truth!”
“I’ll kill you!”
As the two of them argued noisily, Aries simply watched them and thought, Man, it’s peaceful... While nibbling on some crayfish karaage, he looked out of the eatery on a whim and saw the spider demihuman Sargess, who used to travel with the hero Sei. He was with a lamia, a merman, and a dryad.
“Sir Karkinos, here are the ingredients you’ve ordered,” Sargess said.
“T H A N K S! Now I can expand my menu!”
Sargess handed Karkinos a semitransparent ball so large it needed to be held in both hands. The inside was filled to the brim with extremely sweet, amber-colored nectar.
“What is that, Karkinos?” Parthenos questioned.
“It’s nectar made by syrup ants, a monster that mutates from ants. They mainly live in deserts, and their nectar is a delight. I’m currently researching a dessert to be marketed towards women using this,” Karkinos answered, happy.
Now that the world was at peace, it was much easier to come by food than before. Karkinos had been hooked on inventing new dishes recently, spending every day examining the dishes that Lufas had brought from the other side. Over this past year, he had succeeded in copying—or rather, developing—many dishes, thus earning him the prestigious title of “the Cooking King.” It seemed that his eatery, the King Crab, would occupy the throne of the world’s best restaurant for a while.
“Hmm, maybe we should order something too...”
“Ah, then I want something sweet! This place is famous for its desserts, right?”
“I’ll take anything with egg in it.”
“I want shrimp.”
The four demihumans seated themselves at a table and perused the menu. That was when Aigokeros dropped in dressed in priest’s clothing, strangely enough, and sat down.
“Ah, welcome back, Aigokeros. How was the wedding ceremony?”
“I really shouldn’t be doing things I’m not used to. I went because it was Miss Lufas’s order, but I’d rather not do that again,” he said.
Aigokeros took off his outer layer before downing some booze that Karkinos had left in front of him.
A demon dressing as a priest wouldn’t even make a good story. Seeing him like that, Castor let out a strained chuckle, but that only caused Aigokeros to throw a bomb at him.
“Oh, by the way, Pollux and the Devil King seemed strange at the ceremony...” Aigokeros said, trailing off. “It was almost as if they were two youngsters who had just started dating. I do not quite understand that emotion, but it seems to me that something happened.”
“Launch the Argo!” Castor shouted. “Heroic spirits, heed my call and follow after me! Now is the time for a holy war!”
“Castor?!” Aries called out, surprised.
Castor jumped out of his chair and ran outside with his weapon in hand. He was followed by a horde of heroic spirits who’d appeared from nowhere, and it wasn’t long before the Argo took flight. The fact that Fenix, Hydras, the three knights, and other strong heroic spirits were all there from the start spoke of how serious Castor was.
Of course, the winner would be obvious.
“I’ll put money on Castor getting beaten and returning in defeat,” said Scorpius.
“Same here,” Taurus said.
“This can’t even be considered a bet.”
With no one willing to put money on Castor, the bet fizzled out. A short distance away from the moon, the fight had already started. Orm, who had assumed his ouroboros form, exchanged magic fire with the Argo. Though almost as soon as it had started, the Argo was easily shot down. Fights between two beings of appropriate might tended to only last several seconds.
“Men are so stupid.”
“They really are.”
Scorpius and Parthenos both heaved a sigh and simultaneously downed their drinks.
＊ ＊
A year had passed since those dreamlike but undoubtedly real events. Minamijuuji Sei had turned eighteen and spent his days studying in order to fulfill his dreams of becoming a police officer. He wasn’t an officer yet though. He wasn’t even old enough to take the public servant employment examination he needed to be able to become one. However, he was rather well-known these days.
During the course of the year, he’d ended up solving three cases that he happened to have stumbled upon, which was enough for him to be sent a letter of appreciation from the police.