“So, that girl was as unreasonably strong as she was because she was under the protection of the god from Miss Sere’s former world. What was her power called again? Auto-something?”
“So, the reason we didn’t lose Sere and time wasn’t turned back to make us forget our happy memories was because of Gillain’s wish to live with Sere on that one moonlit night.”
“I have no idea how that works, and I can’t really raise any objections to the goddess’s understanding...so yeah, you really did it, Gillain!” Lou thumped Gillain’s shoulder.
Gillain’s mouth turned up in a smile at Lou’s praise. He was in a ninja-style outfit today with a navy shirt and black pants, savoring a cup of tea with his legs crossed.
“Um, Lou, Asu, do you know why Kilama and Magan were with the moon goddess?” Miyu asked.
“I didn’t know they were there either,” Lou replied. “I thought they were just dead. I suppose only their vessels died...”
“They seemed to know all about what happened to us,” Miyu noted.
“I see we get put to work even in death...” Asu grimaced.
“So, tell me already, what happened to Maribelle?” Miyu suddenly sat upright. “I followed your orders and took her down using oxygen deprivation. She could breathe, but with such strong backfired curses on her, I doubt she would have been able to move even if I hadn’t intervened. In order to prevent her from manipulating my thoughts, after I made her faint and Larouza switched the target of his attacks to Asu, I put her to sleep with a poison that only I can cure. But when I saw that you were in danger and left her there to run to you...”
Lou finished her sentence. “Terl took Maribelle away at the same time as you came back to life.”
“Terl did? Where?” Miyu asked.
“I have two ideas. I think Terl either finished Maribelle off himself, or he took her to the goddess.”
Really? He did?
“However much the god of another world may love Maribelle, she’s a resident of this world now,” Asu explained. “She attacked the three of us holy beasts, me, Lou, and Miyu, with malicious intent. She can’t escape divine punishment. Either Terl will deliver it himself, or he will ask the goddess to do so. Considering that the goddess was considering a second timeline reset, he may actually have been ordered by the goddess to secure her, so they can end things this time without future trouble,” Asu explained.
Lou peered at me. “I think that they went to the goddess and that Terl will begin the purification process. Judging by what you say about the god from Earth and whatnot, it sounds like she isn’t ours to deal with anymore. You don’t have to worry, Sere.”
Will the goddess give her a verdict, or will she send her back to the god from Earth?
“How is Terl?”
“He has his free will back. He told us ‘I can’t apologize enough’ before he left.”
“Okay... So he’s not with Schneider anymore.”
I remembered Schneider’s beat-up state the last time I’d seen him.
“Speaking of which, what were the circumstances of Schneider’s reincarnation?” Lou asked. I didn’t know, though. I’d been crying and too concerned with myself.
“The goddess didn’t say anything about him, and I didn’t think to ask at the time... Sorry. But I think it was separate from Maribelle’s reincarnation.”
“It could just be a coincidence, or maybe another god had him reincarnated...”
“What is Schneider doing now?” I asked Gillain. Even though I was asking about a different nation’s affairs, I knew there was no information that an emperor wouldn’t have access to. I vaguely remembered him having spies in every nation.
“The King of Judore has him under house arrest. He’s cooperating with interrogations. He seems concerned about you.”
“Huh...”
Without Terl around, three S-rankers could easily subdue him. I could trust Gil in that regard. I wondered what verdict Judore would give him...but it didn’t have anything to do with me anymore. I believed his promise to never interfere with me again.
I heaved a sigh that I’d been holding in, and Gillain looked at me with concern. “Are you tired, Sere? You should lie down. We’ve kept you for a while.”
“No, I’m okay. This was necessary, anyway. I wanted to know what was going on.”
“Get better soon so that you can move...so that Trundle can give you permission. Galé is warmer than here. I have the Twilight Palace set up for you to rest.”
Gillain, both now and in my past life, created places for me to belong. Also, I didn’t realize I’m not allowed to move without my grandmother’s permission now...
“Sere, if you don’t recover soon, Gillain is going to be malnourished,” Lou teased.
That’s true. Gillain’s been going through a lot, all because of me.
“I’m sorry, Gillain.” I kissed the dark circles under his eyes with all the gratitude and love I had, taking his exhaustion for myself. I can’t believe I get to do this routine again...
Gillain tilted his head and kissed me in return, pouring his magic into me. Why the coffee refill...? I’m already full of way too much magic from different people...
When Gillain took his lips from mine, he suddenly knit his eyebrows. Still supporting my back with his right hand, he lifted my bangs with his left hand, revealing my forehead. For just an instant, there was a flash of light around me.
“Sere... What’s this gold line around your forehead?”
“Sere...!”
“Miss Sere!”
“Gillain, give Sere a mirror!”
Gillain took a hand mirror from the dressing table and gave it to me. I looked at my forehead in it, clueless as to what the issue was.
A thin lemon-yellow line ran across my forehead, just below my hairline. It seemed to continue into my hair. When I touched it, I felt a static shock.
This sensation... This must be something crazy!
“Sere... You must have some idea, right? You can tell us. I won’t be angry,” Lou said coolly.
I legitimately forgot...until right this second...
“When the goddess said goodbye to me, she bit my head... Then a gold ring closed in around my head...”
“I knew it! The goddess’s blessing!”
“She took in your magic from your head?! Was it mutual?”
“You mean her tear...? She did drop one on my head...”
“The goddess’s golden teardrop?!”
“Miss Sere! That’s huge!”
No waaay!
Asu sighed. “Sere, that’s a Golden Band.”
“A what now?”
My wise mother Asu explained it to me as he took a good look at my forehead. “The goddess essentially put a bell on you. As someone who has her favor, you’ll have her protection if anything dangerous like Maribelle crosses your path again. Also...”
“Also?”
“The goddess can see everything you do, and if you do anything bad, the band will tighten around your head and cause you unimaginable pain...”
“Gaaah!” Just like Sun Wukong?!
“Well, Miss Sere doesn’t do bad things, so if the goddess is protecting her... That makes it a good thing! No worries!”
“Hmm... Since you can feel the goddess’s breath from this holy mark, this means she’s fond of you. You’ll be fine as long as you don’t pull any malicious pranks. No worries, Sere!”
Gillain squeezed my cheeks together and met eyes with me.
“Hey, that hurts...”
“Sere, you’ve been accepting magic left and right from people other than me... It’s almost cheating at this point.”
Hey, come on! This was an act of goddess!
While I was dripping with cold sweat under serious pressure from the Emperor of Galé, Lou and Asu were tasting Matsuki’s new creation, ice cream with Marschean matcha, with no concern for me.
“Psst... Lou, eat this and cool your head a little!”
Munch, munch... “This god of Earth or wherever put my Sere through so much pain... They’re gonna get what’s coming to them...”
“Wait until Sere is recovered, at least. And talk to the goddess about it first. Well, I don’t think she’ll stop you, since she gave Sere her first holy mark in two thousand years, so Sere is basically in her pocket... But with things as they are right now...” Munch, munch.
“I know, you’re going to say I’m not powerful enough to cross over to another world, right? The goddess said I don’t have to be purified this time. I’ll take this opportunity to go to my holy ground, double my magic power, and triple my sand density... My Matsuki is as talented as ever...”