Lloyd gave him a gentle smile.
“It’s pretty stressful, right? I was so nervous! Everyone around me seemed so strong, and it really got to me.”
Sharing his own experience would help the kid settle down. Soon, everyone around had paused to listen.
“I’m sure you worked hard to get here. So what matters now is working hard to make sure your efforts weren’t in vain. Don’t lose track of your goal, of who’s helped you, and who you want to help.”
I’m not Shouma, but even I could sense real passion in those words.
“Pursuing those goals is what real strength is all about. Keeping track of them will give you more confidence. I don’t mean to lecture—I’m still working on that myself.”
“Lord, is he planning on getting even stronger?” Riho chuckled.
But that’s what we all love about him.
“I learned at the academy, worked at the cafeteria, cultivated friendships, and kept my eye on my goals. I know you’ve got connections and bonds of your own. Remember them.”
“Passion! Passion!!”
Shut up, Shouma—but also, I agree.
Lloyd turned to Chrome with a questioning glance.
Chrome got it and nodded slowly.
Lloyd plucked a smallish knife from the crate and took a step toward the dummy.
“Take that goal to heart, and put all the work you’ve done toward it. Like this!”
With uncanny speed, he slashed at the dummy.
A moment later—
It was gone.
It was dusted so hard, what was left of it fell without a sound, leaving a little pile behind.
Turning back to the boy, Lloyd smiled.
“You’ll be able to do the same someday.”
There was a long silence.
That gradually turned to a murmur and then to thunderous applause.
“The stories were true!” “Hot damn, Instructor Lloyd!” “He pulverized steel plate!”
He’d used a dagger, and his slashes hadn’t looked that powerful—but they had easily turned that sturdy dummy to dust. Everyone gasped.
“Now then, this exam is all about seeing how you move. Even if you can do what I did, there’s no need to go that far. Sorry!”
With that, he easily hefted up a replacement dummy.
A living legend was showing just where his reputation came from—and he was promising they could all be that good someday. The crowd went wild.
Soon the exam resumed. The timid boy went at the dummy and showed what he could do.
Lloyd smiled happily, probably seeing himself in the kid.
The mood was much improved.
“I like the way this is going. Lloyd is a wonder.”
It was my mission to spread word of his feats to the world, so I couldn’t help but grin.
My comrade Shouma had captured this all on film. “Azami alone isn’t enough! The whole world needs to know about him!”
But as we spoke…
“?!”
…I sensed something malicious rocketing our way.
“Shouma!”
“I know, Asako. She would pick her moment.”
Phyllo’s eyes were on the sky, too. “……Bad news…… A new foe? Obviously not.”
She soon corrected herself. I’m sure readers know who the embodiment of malice truly is.
Everyone around me knew who was coming—and they were all scowling accordingly.
We wanted to share Lloyd’s wonders with the world. And this menace was the biggest impediment to that.
She was so hell-bent on monopolizing Lloyd, she’d pay no heed to propriety.
You guessed it, this was—
“Aughhh! Lloooooooyd! I missed youuuuuuu!”
“Gah! The kid grandma! I knew she’d come!”
The white devil was flying our way! Alka was a constant threat to Lloyd’s innocence!
“I knew the priestess of perversion would show up.”
“Selen, you are the last person— Ugh, not the time to quibble.”
“……I will protect my Master’s big day.”
Alka could never, ever make a normal entrance—I almost respected her consistency.
“Passion! The white devil, moral turpitude personified! Sorry, but I’m gonna stop you ruining Lloyd’s teaching debut and pay you back for foisting your village work off on me!”
Shouma was making it personal. But it was hard to fend off Alka while also filming Lloyd. Since I hadn’t mastered my demon lord powers, we might well be in trouble.
“Hokay! Freshly minted instructor Lloyd’s ready for the plucking!”
“Don’t just drop in and freak out! People have rights!” Marie shrieked.
“Lloyd is the manifestation of my motivations as a demon lord!” Alka said, meaning every word. “I have the right to dote on him!”
That was a sudden revelation about her backstory, but nobody believed it. Even if it was true, everyone has the right to love. It’s the only fight worth taking. All you have to do is win.
“Damn kid grandma, still saying this crap after all this time…,” Marie swore.
“Ah-ha-ha! Keep going, Alky!” Rinko cheered. She really did make the most of life.
Oblivious to the hate she was accruing, Alka was on a rampage—and we weren’t enough to stop her. Poor Lloyd was about to get her poisonous fangs in him in front of all the future cadets—
“I’m swiping Lloyd’s lips in pub—guhhh!”
—when someone tackled her hard.
Who could it be?
“You always were a damn fool!”
“Huh?! P-Pyrid?!”
Yes, the elderly man who should have been back in Kunlun.
A blow from someone every bit as powerful as her sent Alka careening off into the sky. She landed on the castle roof, reeling with shock.
“Wh-why are you…?”
Then Sou popped up, like he was just wandering by. “I brought him.”
“Huh?! Sou?!”
So this was the errand he’d mentioned.
“That’s our producer! He sensed Alka’s rampage coming!”
“It was nothing,” Sou said, shaking his head. “I’ve known her so long, I can predict these things.”
“I am not predictable! Whoa!” Alka grunted as Pyrid’s next blow left her swimming in air.
He grinned, winking at Lloyd. “Lloyd! I’ll handle this nitwit! You do your job!”
“Ah-ha-ha, thanks, Grandpa.”
That was Lloyd’s grandfather? A stir went ’round the crowd. Obviously—nobody else fought in the air.
“Damn you, Pyrid! Hngggg!”
This time, a bundle of tree roots had bound her tight.
“Stop it, Alka.”
Of all people—Micona was intervening.
“You would betray me now?!”
Holding Alka tight in her treant roots, Micona shook her head. “I have done no such thing,” she insisted. “I knew all along that interfering with your plans here would score me mad points with Marie. Hurr-hurr.”
It was a clever strategy, even if the cause was hopeless. But it worked in our favor.
“Hurk… If our positions were reversed, I’d have done the same!”
These two really thought alike.
Tightening the vines round Alka, Micona yelled down at Lloyd.
“Lloyd Belladonna! You’re a teacher—teach!”
“Micona! I’ll do my best!”
“…………”
Micona just shot him a silent thumbs-up. Nobody wanted their first day on the job to be a nightmare.
Anyway, while that was going on, more folks arrived.
“We’re here, Phyllo.”
“Sardin! In! Azami Military Academy’s entrance exam!”
“……Mom, Dad.”
The Rokujou royals, and—
“Wow, the party never stops hopping here, huh?” Mena said, back in street clothes.
That got some genuine surprise from Phyllo. “……You, too?!”
“Nah-ha-ha! Look again, Phyllo. It’s not just us! Right, Choline?”
Choline was right there with her. Merthophan looked so shocked, he almost dropped his daikon.
“Mm? Why are you here, Choline?”
“What, you ain’t happy to see me? Ditch the daikon and gimme a hug!”
Sou chuckled. “It’s Lloyd’s big day; I imagined the more the merrier. Brought them all along.”
“That’s the passion I love, Sou!” Shouma agreed.
Sou closed his eyes, smiling.
“But I learned this from Alka and Pyrid. Right?”
Pyrid had been cryogenically frozen and had lost those memories—so he just looked baffled.
“Mm? It rings a bell, but… Do you know more, Alka?”
Alka sighed but smiled. “You still can’t recall? I guess you said something like that. My rune son always was the lonely type.”
While they were going on, the familiar faces flocked together, watching Lloyd work.
Threonine’s voice was especially loud. “Whoaaa! I’m finally holding my granddaughter! Lloyd’s thing is nice, but this is far better!”
“Dad, you’re interrupting… Oh, Lloyd! Congrats on the new job!”
“Lloyd, stay elegant!”
Allan and Renge were there with him.
“I’d like a grandchild myself, but if I say anything, she’s liable to take drastic action…,” Robin muttered.
“I—I share that concern, Lord Robin. I imagine Lloyd could handle it, though,” Minoxi said.
“Satan, I know Asako told you, but what’s the word?”
“Oh, Anzu, I asked him first.”
“Anzu, Rol, what say we all go together?”
““Never!””
They were off to the races. Satan had gone full harem manga protag.
And that got under a certain turtle’s shell.
“Dear lord…why only Seta? Why none for me?” Surtr grumbled.
“Heh-heh-heh… Want me to make you human? I could use a mad science break.” Eug pounced on the opportunity in the most ominous way.
“Isn’t this nice? Everyone’s here. This is such fun, Lou! Let’s enjoy the rest of our lives like this.”
“Precisely, Rinko. Until death do us part.”
Rinko and the king looked happy.
“Jeez, you can’t ever get bored with Lloyd around…or you, Selen.”
“Agreed! But I’m not letting anyone else have him.”
“Heh-heh. Talk’s cheap.”
Riho and Selen were old friends now, laughing together.
It was chaos…but everyone was having fun. I was smiling despite myself.
“This day’s supposed to be about the candidates,” Lloyd said—but he was also smiling.
Marie had somehow switched back to her witch robes and was clinging to his side.
“Score! Let’s use this as cover and slip back to the shop! Make me dinner, Lloyd!”
“Er, are you sure, Marie?”
“To me, that’s what home cooking is.”
Lloyd could hardly take offense to that.
“Then once work’s over, let me cook for everyone! I’ll show you how I’ve grown!”
“……In.”
“Agreed!”
“Lloyd’s cooking? Been far too long.”
…We’ve supposed a lot of things in this series, but this ending needs none.
Each of our stories will go on, but I hope they’ll always be this merry. You see—this is a happy ending, no suppositions required.