Though his face was hidden by his helmet, he clearly showed with his whole body how reluctant he was before bowing his head.

“I will do as you say.”

“Good.”

Idria turned to Kaeld.

“Sobius is the first finger of lie. He’s second only to me in power and the subordinate I trust and rely on the most.”

“….”

“Sobius will be joining your party. But that’s only in name. While I’m recovering my strength, you will follow his orders. Just as I once gave you a quest.”

It wasn’t an order Kaeld was thrilled about.

But he didn’t reject it.

He wanted to be loved by everyone forever and didn’t care much about the means to get there.

“I will do it.”

“Good.”

“You said I had two tasks earlier.”

“What do you think the second one is? Isn’t it obvious?”

Kaeld nodded.

“To stop Mide.”

“Yes. Right now, your fame probably overwhelms Mide’s. He will be scrambling to find a way out of this.”

“…”

“Stop him. Right now, you probably have more support from the continent’s people. It will be a favourable stage.”

Cough.

She coughed up blood again.

To Kaeld, Idria’s image had always been one of invincibility.

Seeing her look so weak gave him strange feelings.

“The remaining second to fourth fingers… I will introduce them to you one at a time once I have recovered a bit.”

“···”

“Especially Sabach, he still needs to be healed from the injury he got last time. That’s completely beyond me in my current state.”

“I understand.”

“You may go now.”

With that, Idria closed her eyes.

And soon, she fell into a deep sleep.

Kaeld looked down at her silently.

Outwardly, she looked delicate and beautiful.

Who would ever imagine the Demon King looked like this?

“How long do you plan to stare at her?”

“Ah, hmm. My bad. Sobius, was it? Is that your real name?”

“Why does that matter?”

“Ophelia was called Teranaim, so I thought maybe…”

“I’m in the same boat. But there’s something I should correct.”

Sobius spoke quietly.

“I consider Sobius to be my real name.”

“···”

“If you’re going to introduce me to your party, you should prepare a suitable backstory. Maybe something like ‘a descendant of a fallen knight family.’ I will let you handle the details.”

“So that means… you used to be a knight too?”

Currently, the two central knightly factions of the Empire are the Order of Light and Alkahad.

But that doesn’t mean there were no other knight orders.

The Order of Light and Alkahad take direct orders from the emperor in the capital, but local lords also raised their own knight orders.

Sobius answered with a growl.

“Why are you so curious?”

“Because you’re in my party now.”

“That’s just a convenient pretence. I will ‘act’ like I’m under you on Lady Idria’s command, but that’s all there is between us.”

“How cold.”

“We are only working together out of necessity. I don’t see any reason to get closer.”

Kaeld shrugged.

Sobius changed the subject.

“First, we need to track down Mide.”

“Is that your first quest for me?”

“Think of it however you want.”

“With Idria asleep, it won’t be easy to keep tabs on Mide’s movements. How do you know where he’s going?”

Sobius answered without hesitation.

“I can see it. Or rather… I have already seen it.”

“···?”

“For some reason, the Hero’s Mark wasn’t bestowed to Mide.”

“What?”

“That makes it fairly easy to predict where he will head next. Let’s get moving.”

Contrary to his words, “Let’s get moving,” Sobius drew his sword.

Kaeld flinched for a moment, but Sobius only slashed through the air.

Crackle.

And then a scene Kaeld had grown somewhat familiar with unfolded.

“You’re cutting space!”

“Yes.”

“Wasn’t that Idria’s Authority?”

“Do you think Ophelia’s insects or Hyran’s smoke form weren’t also Lady Idria’s Authority?”

“….”

“I’m her first finger. I’m closer to her than anyone.”

Clink.

He sheathed his sword and continued.

“Follow me.”

He calmly stepped into the tear in space.

Kaeld felt more like a party member than a leader.

But he didn’t resist.

Though unpleasant, he didn’t complain either.

To be honest, he could endure much worse.

As long as he could be loved forever.

We didn’t enter Gabriel territory directly, but were instead climbing a small mountain at its edge.

I remembered this trail.

‘It’s the same path Grey’s group climbed.’

[Hmm.]

‘For Neril, this place probably holds bad memories. It’s where her beloved caretaker met his end.’

[Hehe. You have been awfully concerned about her lately.]

What are you on about?

Just then, Neril spoke.

“Huff, huff.”

Well, more like she exhaled heavily than spoke.

“You okay?”

“Totally fine.”

“Xenia, check on Neril.”

“I said I’m fine!”

But Xenia walked up and took Neril’s hand.

“Anyway, this holy power is that bastard’s energy, so I might as well waste it.”

“….”

“Oh Celestial God? Are you asleep or what? Read the room.”

A soft golden light wrapped around Neril.

She looked visibly relieved.

Serein grinned as she spoke to Xenia.

“Are you sure it’s okay to pray to a God like that?”

“I’m done praying to that one. After we kill the Demon King, I might even change jobs.”

“Hmm. If you have got nothing to do, wanna go into business with me?”

“I’m thinking of opening a restaurant like Lady Lepia did. What do you think?”

Serein looked a little sulky, but I honestly thought it was the perfect plan for Xenia.

“Go for it. You can make Lisel the head chef.”

At that, Lisel reacted.

“Why are you dragging me into this when I’m just standing here…?”

“Because your cooking skills are well known.”

Adwin spoke up with an oddly cheerful smile.

“My father was a chef too.”

“Huh? Really?”

“He was actually the head of the lord’s kitchen back in my hometown. How about we open the restaurant in our territory? My dad could join as a consultant.”

Come to think of it, Adwin’s hometown is the same as Lepia’s. She also opened a restaurant after killing the Demon King… That paints a pretty nice picture.

Adwin continued.

“Mr. Offense can do the dishes.”

“No way. He already agreed to manage my business finances.”

“I never said I’d do both.”

“Uh, guys? Hate to ruin the mood, but I still need to figure out how to become human.”

I chuckled at Lisel’s last remark and replied.

“I will help you figure that out, so just help in the kitchen till then.”

Then Neril chimed in.

“I thought you said you were retiring.”

“Retirement is what you do after everything is done.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure what to do. I don’t really have any big plans.”

“What are you talking about? You’re going to be running around with me.”

“Huh?”

“We have to research how to turn Lisel into human, set up a wide range search magic circle for Offense, bring Adwin’s father back, and restore Ophelia’s real body.”

For some reason, Neril’s lips twitched a little.

I kept talking, trying to sound casual.

“After all that, we said we would go find Grey.”

“Screw that guy.”

“Huh?”

“Once everything’s done, let’s go to your hometown. You need to show your mom what kind of Hero you have become.”

Neril turned her head slightly and added,

“And introduce me while we are at it.”

Neril didn’t head for Erenica’s grave. Instead, she took us on a detour to a small, shabby cabin.

This must be where that gravekeeper butler used to live.

Come to think of it, I never found out his name.

“Domen Howd.”

“Huh? What is?”

“The butler’s name. You were curious, weren’t you?”

Is she a mind reader these days?

Click.

Neril approached a small shed next to the cabin.

At the door, she quickly formed a seal with her hands.

Whirrr.

A dizzying magic circle spread across the entire door.

Offense muttered,

“Even someone like me who knows nothing about magic can tell that’s complicated. If you had set that up from the start, Grey or whoever wouldn’t have stolen the treasure.”

“I was in a slump back then. Didn’t really care about the world.”

“That was when you met Dame, right?”

“I was like that for thirty years straight. Happy now?”

“That’s a long slump.”

Somehow, I felt like I understood what Neril’s slump had been.

Before the regression, she saw the fight against the Demon King as her ‘exit.’

Not because she wanted glory or reward, she just thought it was the best stage to make her exit. That’s why she joined the party.

‘No way.’

Was she planning to die? Pre-regression Neril?

Somehow, my heart feels like it just dropped.

[Hey. Don’t panic. She’s not like that anymore.]

‘How do you know that?’

[She asked to meet your mother, didn’t she? Neril is thinking about the future now.]

‘…If that’s true, then I’m really glad.’

[Heh. You have changed a lot of things, but that woman, you have changed her the most.]   

1

TL: He was calling her oldx

‘Don’t call her that woman. Wanna die?’

[Sigh…]

At that moment, the magic circle dissolved and the door opened.

“Don’t come in. It’s cramped in here.”

She stepped inside.

We could hear her rummaging around for a while.

When she returned a few minutes later, she was holding a headband.

A blue headband made from sturdy cloth.

Honestly, it looked worn out and too plain to be decorative.

Serein asked,

“What is that? Looks pretty rough.”

“I made it.”

“It’s so pretty!”

“Yeah, right. I know I have got no talent for this stuff.”

Neril said that and put the headband on.

Then…

Whoosh.

Her appearance changed!

From a tall woman with long dark blue hair, to a short-haired woman with pink hair.

Her hair color and length changed, yes, but so did her build and even bone structure, she looked like a completely different person.

We all stood there with our jaws dropped.

“Isn’t that like Mr. Offense’s sorcery? The one that changes your face?”

“No. This is completely different. For starters, that one hurts like hell.”

“It hurts?”

“Your bones and muscles have to realign. Of course it hurts. I just bear it. But…”

Offense examined her carefully and spoke,

“You’re completely calm.”

“Yeah. This is a type of illusion magic.”

“The same one you used to lure Patrick in the capital?”

“Not quite that powerful, but… actually, in a way, it’s more impressive.”

Neril took the headband off.

She returned to her original form.

While brushing her hair back into place, she explained,

“The illusion I used in the capital still left traces of my mana. Like most magic does.”

“…”

“But this one? No mage would ever notice it. I changed the perception so that the caster isn’t a person but the headband itself.”

“…”

“And the headband’s an inanimate object, it has no mana. So if people think the magic is coming from something without mana, no one will ever notice.”

Okay, someone translate this to Imperial tongue, please.

Then it happened.

“Amazing!”

“Huh? Adwin?”

“…That was Lord Beyond speaking.”

“Beyond Erenica? Don’t tell me he’s out for a walk again from the Underworld .”

“Looks like it. Remember? The first through third heroes are all on speaking terms with him in the underworld.”

And apparently he had learned how to slip in and out of the underworld from the first hero, Grade.

Thinking too deeply about it was giving me a headache, so I said to Adwin,

“Sounds like he has something to say. Go ahead and let him speak.”

“Sure. Just a moment.”

Adwin’s voice changed.

Beyond Erenica sounded utterly fascinated as he skipped the greetings.

“I could tell from the disintegration spell back in the capital. Neril Slane, you truly are a genius.”

“Ah, um. Thanks.”

“May I take a closer look?”

“Normally I would say no, but since I will need your help, here. Take it.”

Beyond examined the headband as if it were treasure.

Specifically, the inside of the headband.

Tiny inscriptions like microscopic runes and circles were drawn all over it.

I nodded slowly.

“So that’s how you did it.”

“Huh? You understood that?”

“Just pretending.”

“Pfft. That’s expected. Only someone like Beyond could even tell it was magic. Most mages wouldn’t know.”

“Then let me mimic Beyond for a second. You truly are a genius.”

Neril scratched her cheek.

“It’s not really because I’m a genius that I could make it. I was just… desperate back then.”

Desperate?

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