The days she’d spent enslaved by Kale in Hellion Territory came back to her. Her spirit had remained unbroken, even in that grim place, because she had always held on to a kernel of hope—that Leon would one day rescue her. If he had only known where she was, Leon would not have hesitated to plunge into Hellion Territory to do exactly that. He might not have vanquished Belphegor or Count Impaler on his own, but he could have easily rescued Cake.
Blaming himself for everything that had happened, Leon vowed with a shaking voice, “Princess. I will retake our homeland. After that, I will accept any punishment you may see fit...”
“Punishment? Don’t be ridiculous... I finally get to see you again...” Cake tightened her grip, as if to prove to Leon that she’d never let him go.
His head still bowed, Leon shed tears of his own. “I do not deserve such compassion...” No matter how much he wanted to promise, he hadn’t accomplished any of it yet.
After embracing for some time, they quickly stood up straight when they saw people approaching—Azur and the children. “Forgive me for interrupting this reunion,” Azur said, genuflecting from several steps away, in a proper display of respect for royalty.
“Yu has told me about you, Azur,” Cake said with a beaming smile. “Please, come closer.”
Azur glanced at Leon. Seeing the general nod, he slightly closed his distance with Cake.
“You are very reserved,” Cake said. “Then I shall come to you.” Cake strutted over to Azur, who showed rare signs of dismay.
Leon grinned in sympathy and pride. He recognized the brilliant princess who treated everyone fairly—he was too blinded by his loyalty to see that Cake had a black void where her soul should have been.
Cake extended her hand, and Azur obediently kissed it. Cake was the picture of a fairy-tale princess, with a war hero general and impeccable butler both kneeling before her.
“Having introduced myself to Mistress Aku, I came straight to you,” Azur said crisply.
“Just to say hello to a princess who lost her kingdom? You’re too kind!” Cake replied.
In this world, the order of introductions could impact even the future of a noble house. In high society, it was a clear declaration of allegiances. One wrong move could lead to political warfare or even a duel.
Now that Holylight was united, there were many powerful figures on equal footing: the Holy Maidens, the Madam, Harts... Yet, Azur had chosen Cake. Perhaps he considered that with Yu and Leon, it was very likely that the kingdom of Parma would one day rise again. That would allow Azur to divide his eggs between two baskets.
Cake had picked up on Azur’s calculation. “Those children must be the Nine,” she said.
“Thanks to Mistress Yu, we made it out of the fortress alive.”
“Leon, I’m going to show these kids around the village. I’ll give you men a chance to get to know each other.”
“Yes, Princess!”
Cake put on a perfect smile and took the children back into the village.
The two men watched them depart, then remained silent for some time, until Leon spoke. “We are both lucky to be alive.”
“Indeed...”
They both thought of how forty thousand people had been annihilated at Dona’s fortress. No matter how many times they replayed them in their heads, memories of that night seemed otherworldly. Even more bizarre was how bright and bustling this village was. Light Spellstones lit the buildings that the early sunset was beginning to color, and many carriages went up and down the streets between them. Before the golden temple, a series of fountains put on a dazzling show to a crowd of cheering villagers enjoying their ale.
“How did we survive...?” Leon breathed, somber remembrance in his voice. “Perhaps it doesn’t matter now.” He thought of all the nobles who had been destroyed without mercy.
“We can only call it a miracle,” Azur said.
They had faced off against the Demon Lord and Tahara. Surviving a fight against them was a miracle in its own right. Leon and Azur both held people dear to their hearts, enough to protect them at all cost. Perhaps that had allowed them to live.
“Of course, Parma will protect those children if it ever comes to that,” Leon promised.
Azur nodded. He had long opposed Xenobia himself, so his interests aligned with Leon’s. If the Xenobia-protected Iga were to be defeated, Azur would finally be free.
While important players around Rabbi progressed their own agendas, the Demon Lord, who was supposed to be in the center of it all, was shouting in the empty pantry in the basement of the casino. He’d begun creating the Buckets requested by Tahara—a task that seemed endless. “Dammit! A thousand Buckets?! Does he want to conjure up Sadako or something?!”
Beside him, Aku watched with concern, the divine beast on her shoulder. “S-Sadako...? I’m not sure what that is, Master Demon Lord, but you’ve got this!”
The divine beast squeaked as if to say, “Get back to work, slacker!”
“What’s he saying, Aku?” the Demon Lord asked. No matter how many Buckets he made, his quota loomed insurmountably.
“I-It’s just a feeling, but something like ‘get back to work,’ I think...?” Aku said.
“You stupid squirrel! Do you even comprehend how many a thousand is?!”
“Master Demon Lord! He isn’t a squirrel! His name is Mimi!” Aku said.
Mimi swished his tail pridefully—spitefully, even.
“No need to give that thing a real name. Call it ‘rodent’ or ‘tree rat’ or even ‘ice pack,’ for all I care.”
“W-We can’t call him that!” Aku and Mimi protested.
Despite everything, the Demon Lord made progress with the Buckets. By dawn, one thousand didn’t seem unattainable anymore...even if the Demon Lord’s eyes were devoid of life, thanks to the all-nighter he’d pulled performing the same simple task over and over.
Somehow, Aku seemed to be having fun just being by the Demon Lord’s side. “Everyone was so amazed by this Bucket! I still remember what it was like back then.”
“When we first came here... We’ve come far since then,” the Demon Lord said. In a way, that first Bucket had been a catalyst to change everything. The simple Novice item had revived this village.
For Aku, the Bucket represented the connection between her, Luna, and the Bunnies. “And, Master Demon Lord? Those children, the Nine, came to see me...”
“Oh, they came to introduce themselves? Well, you should play with them sometime. You deserve friends your own age,” the Demon Lord said casually.
Aku, however, didn’t know how to handle an entourage of children treating her like a princess. “B-But they think that I’m a princess or something... Please tell them, Master Demon Lord,” Aku pleaded. The Nine must have thought that Aku was Lucifer’s daughter. Not even Tahara or Yu could give them a straight answer about Aku.
“They’re new. They must be nervous,” the Demon Lord muttered. “997... 998...” While Holylight was abuzz from the Gold Parade, the root of all that hullabaloo was in a basement, soullessly locked in repetition like a minimum-wage line worker.
Aku took one of the Buckets off the pile. “But everyone who gets one of these Buckets will be so happy...” In this world, an item that generated infinite water was tantamount to a divine relic.
“I guess it’s like sending water tanks to disaster areas,” the Demon Lord said. “999... 1000...!” He crafted the last Bucket and collapsed. While Aku rushed over in concern, Mimi bounced on his chest as if he’d taken down the Demon Lord himself. “What is he so happy about...?”
“It’s like he’s saying... ‘You finally kicked it,’ or something,” Aku said.
“Damn ice pack... I’m gonna grill you up one day...!”
“No! Mimi is a friend, not food!” Aku said.
The Demon Lord promptly Quick Traveled to his bed in the penthouse with the last of his strength and closed his eyes. Aku curled up next to him and fell asleep shortly afterward, a smile broadening her face as she dreamed of those Buckets being delivered to villages all over Holylight.
Remaining SP: 12,554p