The floating island Leon had once developed for himself was being transformed. It had previously been repurposed for the war, but now it had regained its sprawling greenery. It was still under government ownership, but Leon was using it for personal purposes. It was the perfect place to send all the troublesome people under his care to live. Naturally, that meant Marie and her entire entourage.
Marie was enjoying her walk, dabbing away perspiration with a towel as she watched robots toil in the fields. “Ah, it feels good to be out here sweating. It’ll make today’s beer taste even better!” Although it was only noon, she was already fantasizing about the alcohol they’d drink that evening.
The moment Carla and Kyle spotted her, they rushed toward her, Carla carrying a child on her back. “Lady Marieeeee!” she called. “Please don’t strain your body needlessly!”
Kyle was similarly panicked. He still looked young, but he’d grown taller than Carla. His elven blood came through strong, giving him a handsome face. He was mellower now than he had been when he was younger, but he hadn’t changed much overall.
“Mistress!” he hollered at Marie. “You shouldn’t move around so much in that state!”
Carla seized Marie’s arm and began dragging her back toward the house. “How can you think about drinking in your condition? Come, we need to get home!” She was more assertive with Marie now, partly because she was still looking out for her.
“I wanna drink!” Marie whined childishly at Carla.
The child on Carla’s back tucked a finger into his mouth. He had the same navy-blue hair as Julius.
Jilk strode toward the trio, a leather rucksack over his shoulder. He waved at them as he approached. “I have great news for you, Marie, since you’re so anxious for a drink. I brought back some special tea leaves.”
Carla scowled at him. “I’ll prepare them. Don’t even think about stewing them yourself.”
“Why can’t you get it through your thick skull that you’re terrible at brewing tea?” Kyle added coldly. He might’ve mellowed out with other people, but he was as biting and severe as ever when it came to the idiot brigade—in no small part because those five morons still gave him, Carla, and Marie grief.
Jilk shrugged at them. “I guess the way I brew it is just too sophisticated for you to appreciate.”
Marie’s eyes landed on the leather bag. The color drained from her face. “Jilk,” she said. “I’ve…never seen the case for that tea set you have with you.” As she studied the bag, she soon realized it was brand new.
Pleased she’d noticed so quickly, Jilk patted it. “Oh, this? I picked it up in the capital before I returned. I thought it was a really great find for such a low price, especially given the quality.”
Marie’s legs trembled beneath her. Kyle lunged to hold her up before she sank to the ground. “Mistress! Please keep it together! It’ll be all right. Since Mr. Jilk’s been reinstated, and is a viscount now, we have a little more money than before!”
His assurances didn’t stop the tears that welled in Marie’s eyes. All the boys had been welcomed back into the aristocracy, but they were still in debt.
“You promised me you wouldn’t waste money, remember?!” she screeched at Jilk.
Leon was their creditor, but Angie was the one actually in charge of the purse strings. She was nowhere near as permissive as her husband, and she made sure to charge interest on what they owed. Fortunately, the idiot brigade weren’t squandering their finances the way they used to. They spent reasonably and within their means, primarily for work. Still, Marie was used to being completely penniless and hadn’t yet grown accustomed to their new stature. The amount of debt they were in seemed exorbitant to her.
Jilk grinned at her, puffing out his chest proudly. “It wasn’t a waste of money. After all, this tea set and its case were only eight hundred thousand dia. The seller told me it was something they got out of an ancient ruin, a real antique.”
Eight hundred thousand dia was equivalent to eight million yen.
Marie’s hands flew to her belly. “Oh no… I’m going into labor. I have to get back to the estate to give birth.” She’d gone through this process before, so she stayed calm, despite the urgency of the situation.
“Doctooor! We need a doctor!” Kyle screamed, scrambling off to retrieve one.
Jilk stared at her slack-jawed, startled. “Wh-what should I do?! I guess I should make the tea—no, no, I should carry you to the hospital first!” He was in such a panic that he dropped the new bag he’d purchased. The expensive tea set shattered the moment it slammed against the ground.
Blood drained from Marie’s face. “Noooo! All that money!” she screamed, wobbling and finally losing consciousness.
Jilk dove for her, lifting her in his arms before she hit the floor. “Miss Marie, please get a hold of yourself!”
Carla shot Jilk a look. “You’re the one who put the metaphorical nail in her coffin. How come you’re so gullible? Why did you let someone trick you into thinking a shoddily made tea set was some antique? Do you have any idea how much money you threw away by doing this? It’s high time you owned up to the fact that you have no talent for judging an item’s quality or rarity.” Her words were brutal, going straight for the jugular.
Jilk flinched. Looking a little terrified, he sputtered, “M-my apologies.”
“Well, if you really do feel bad, hurry to the estate and get some water boiling. Go on, run!” Carla made a shooing motion, although she sounded skeptical that he’d be any help whatsoever.
“Y-yes, ma’am!” Leaving Marie in her care, he sprinted off.
Carla sighed and glanced at Marie. “My lady, please pull yourself together.”
Marie had revived but stared blankly straight ahead of her, a forced smile spreading across her face. There was no light in her eyes, as if her spirit had left her body.
“I’ll have to send a message to Big Bro and ask for money to cover our living expenses again,” she muttered numbly. She let out a short, dry laugh. “Ha ha. We’ll be borrowing more before we even finish paying him back. Our debt’s going to increase even further. Angelica and the other girls will be furious with us.”
“Don’t be too negative, Lady Marie! It’ll be all right. If you tell them it was Jilk, they’ll understand, I’m sure of it! Probably!”
“I miss my brother,” Marie whined.
✦ ✦ ✦
After losing the war to Holfort, the Holy Magic Empire of Vordenoit went through changes.
“The machines are building another of those towers.”
“They give me the creeps.”
“We just have to accept it, though. We lost to them.”
The project began in the empire’s capital, as metal towers were erected in large numbers across the city, serving as lamps on the public streets. They’d only been introduced after the war ended, and the imperials weren’t fond of them.
Finn was walking down a street in the capital when he spotted one and paused to peer up at it. “I never expected he was planning this,” he muttered.
The towers the empire’s citizens despised so much were Leon’s idea.
Mia, whose arm was wrapped around Finn’s, gazed sadly up at the tower as well. “Sir Knight, what did we all fight for in that war?”
Mia was able to live comfortably and in good health, wandering out in the open as she pleased, but only where these towers had been built. They didn’t only serve as light sources; they also pumped demonic essence into the atmosphere.
She and the other imperials’ bloodlines had a strong similarity to new humanity’s. They’d have difficulty living comfortably if demonic essence completely disappeared from the atmosphere.
Leon had never intended to destroy the empire. In fact, he’d been devising a way for the imperials to coexist with their neighbors.
Finn grimaced. He deeply regretted not having more trust in his best friend. As he remembered Brave, his brow wrinkled. “If I’d put my faith in Leon, we might not have lost Brave. We might’ve avoided that whole war altogether.”
“Sir Knight,” Mia said gently, wrapping her arms around him, “no one could’ve seen what would happen in the future, so please don’t blame yourself too much. I know I caused everyone a lot of trouble too.”
After the war ended, neither she nor Finn had been called upon to take responsibility for the part they played in it. Moritz shouldered all the blame himself. Finn and Mia had renounced their respective positions—his as a knight, hers as a member of the imperial family—and now lived as ordinary citizens.
Finn shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to sadden Mia too. “Are you going to keep calling me ‘Sir Knight’ forever? I’m not a knight anymore.”
“B-but you’ll always be a knight in my heart,” she exclaimed, flustered.
He stroked her head. “All right. But someday you’d better call me by my name.”
“Y-yes, of course!”
The two had just begun their new lives in the empire.