Once again, we were in a pitch-dark space, Kayla and I floating in the void.
Before us loomed a large, dark creature. A great wolf with sharp, blade-like wings and a single horn: the Black Winged Mad Wolf, Algrafth.
Algrafth glared at me with bulging red eyes, then his face contorted into something resembling a smile. The oppressive aura he once had was absent.
Could it be that he’s exhausted? Was maintaining the Wedge that hard?
“I have no intention to fight,” Algrafth announced. “But if you attack, I will have no choice but to respond.”
“You mean you don’t have the energy to fight anymore… Have you been supporting the Wedge all this time?”
“It was part of a deal.”
“Deal with who?”
“The god of the Sixth Wedge. The oldest and newest god, as she’s called.”
Ah, that must be Mia. I had a vague understanding of who created the Sixth Wedge in the middle school basement. Whether Algrafth knew this was the same girl who’d lost her legs that day, it was hard to say.
“So, we’ve defeated Diasnexus and the Demon Lord. Will you lead all the Demon Lord’s forces now?”
“I only command the monster army. That was true before and remains unchanged.”
“I see… Do you, or your forces, have any intention of making peace with humans?”
Algrafth slowly shook his head. “Your kind are a natural disaster. To confront a natural disaster head-on is nothing but folly.”
He seems to be making a much more intelligent point than I could.
“No matter how strong you may be, in a hundred or two hundred years, hiding will lead to your extinction.”
“Ah, well… whether we’ll just die off normally or if our children will be born with the same powers, we don’t know.”
“Then, that will be the time,” Algrafth murmured in resignation. “We shall retreat to the northern lands. Should you pursue us, we will fight until the last one remains, but…”
“It probably won’t come to that,” I ventured. “Any monsters outside your army will act independently of the Demon Lord’s command, so we’ll still have plenty of others to contend with.”
“That is likely.”
Algrafth seemed to have anticipated this response. But as he was the only monster to have escaped the Demon Lord’s control through cunning, it was expected.
So, maybe it’s worth taking a step further.
“Hey, just a suggestion, but how about we set up a way to communicate with each other?”
“What are you talking about?” Algrafth asked, taken aback.
“Coeurl… the name we gave that black panther you sent, how about using him as a messenger? We can just say he’s a familiar I summoned.”
“And what benefit does that offer?”
“You’ll be able to keep an eye on us from the inside without needing to use a Doppelgänger or anything. We want information about the monster territories and their control structures. We’d really appreciate it if you could provide that kind of information through Coeurl.”
Algrafth stared at me, dumbfounded, but eventually nodded slowly.
“If you have that intention, it might not be a loss to try.”
“Thanks. Actually, there’s another reason.”
“Another reason?”
“I’ve really started to like him after fighting alongside him. And my kid seems to like Coeurl, too.”
Kayla, who had been listening quietly, raised her hand and exclaimed, “Coeurl is cute! Coeurl is good, good!”
This time, Algrafth’s eyes widened in true surprise. He really seemed at a loss for words. “Are you all right with this?” he asked.
“Well, uh, I’m not sure?”
Sorry, it’s a bit hard to say, I thought to myself.
“As long as we share the same goal—protecting the Wedge—I think we can keep fighting together. So having some form of exchange could be good for both of us.”
After a moment of silence, Algrafth finally said, “Very well. If this exchange can produce something fruitful… then let’s try it.”
With that, Algrafth closed his eyes, signaling the end of the conversation.
“Kayla, shall we go?”
“Yes, Papa!”
Kayla led the way, casting a spell. Our surroundings changed.
✦ ✦ ✦
Suddenly we were at the former site of the Cultural Arts Center—back in the other world, not Earth.
It was night, the sky ablaze with stars, and there was no sign of other people or monsters around.
“Looks like it’s quite late—what time is it now?”
I took out the watch Mia had given me, carefully stored in my backpack. It showed 11 PM.
Kayla had just stirred awake, and now she leaned over to look at the watch. “It’s bedtime for good kids!” she declared cheerfully.
Now, what to do… Just then, the nearby bushes rustled.
The figure that slowly appeared before us was a black panther monster.
“Are you, by any chance… Coeurl?”
“Indeed. I have come searching for you at the behest of my master. You’re to rejoin your companions, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
Coeurl must have known where people were congregating, because he confidently took the lead as we set off. As we walked, I wondered how he felt about playing the role of a goodwill ambassador and spy in this treaty.
“Are there no skeletons left on this mountain?” I asked him.
“As soon as Diasnexus flew to Earth, all the skeletons stopped moving and turned to dust. It seems they were all familiars under Diasnexus’s control.”
“All of them, huh… He really was formidable.”
If he had unleashed his full power against us, would we still be alive to have this conversation?
“By the way, Coeurl, when did you come back to this world?”
“After the sun set, a little while after your companions.”
“Ah, so you were with Arisu and them. They didn’t give you a hard time, did they?”
“They treated me with utmost respect. As if fearing that harming me would incur the wrath of my master.”
“I guess it’s more for Kayla’s sake…”
“The immature female?”
“You seem to be Kayla’s favorite.”
“Coeurl is cute!” she piped up.
“Oh?” The black panther glanced back at us with his red eyes for a moment before turning away haughtily. However, his tail was wagging, more energetically than ever before.
“That’s the situation, so please be careful. I’m counting on you to keep an eye on my daughter.”
“Is it not your daughter who will be keeping watch over me?”
“Kayla’s unpredictable with her jumps. You, on the other hand, could definitely act as a stopper for her.”
Coeurl fell silent. Still, his tail continued to wag furiously. It seemed he was quite pleased with the role of watchdog.
Honestly, the idea of interacting with monsters filled me with unease, and I wasn’t without concerns about exposing my dear daughter to them. But well, Kayla was Mia’s daughter, too. I was sure—not out of logic, but by instinct—that pairing her with Coeurl would work out well.
✦ ✦ ✦
Near the ruins of the main high school building, a row of tents had been pitched. Several campfires were lit, and in their center, a bluish teleportation gate glowed. Soldiers of the Light Tribe and members of the high school group milled around it.
The first to notice us emerging from the forest were a few girls hovering anxiously around the teleportation gate. I recognized them as being from the CAC group. They shouted something, and Arisu appeared from one of the tents.
She ran toward us half-crying, and collided with me.
“Kazu-san, Kazu-san, Kazu-san! I was so worried!”
“I’m back, Arisu. Is everyone okay?”
For now, I decided to comfort Arisu, whose face was a mess with tears and snot.