After that, Adwin returned Ophelia to her original body.

Having regained her own face, she collapsed into David’s arms.

“I have been waiting for you, Ophelia.”

“I made it so hard for you, didn’t I… I’m so sorry. Hukhuk.”

“What are you talking about! Don’t say that.”

“Still……”

“Oh, right. I inherited my father’s title. I’m the lord of the Dronoar territory now.”

Ophelia’s eyes widened in shock.

“What? Already?”

“Haha. Just think of it as the result of my hard work. I wanted to stand before you more confidently when we reunited.”

“David…”

“Ophelia. I’m sorry to say this so suddenly, but……”

David reached into his coat.

When his hand came out, a small ring was in it.

Uh-oh? He’s doing it here?

At that moment, David glanced at us with an “oops” expression.

Ophelia also looked at us.

Neril stayed silent for a moment and asked,

“Should we leave?”

“Yes.”

“…….”

“A-Ah! N-no. That was an arrogant thing to say. Please forgive me.”

“No, we will go. Judging by the mood it’s exactly what you’re about to do.”

Neril nudged my side with her elbow.

I, and the other party members, all nodded.

Only Xenia protested in disbelief.

“Huh? Ophelia. Do I really have to leave?”

“Huh? Hey, no. You know how much I missed you.”

“Right?”

“Of course. But… could you give us like five minutes……?”

“Wow.”

Neril grabbed Xenia by the scruff of her neck.

Dragging her away, she said,

“Try to understand. If it were me in this situation, I would have told you guys to leave too. Actually, forget telling, I would have kicked you all out first.”

“Well obviously you would. But Ophelia wouldn’t.”

“You’re saying something surprisingly harsh. Once you have someone you love, you will understand. That day will come someday.”

“Wait. This is the exact pattern you used on Serein.”

Serein cut in, grinning.

“As expected, perspective is important. Right?”

Five minutes later.

When we returned, Ophelia was wearing the ring on her ring finger.

She was smiling brighter than ever, tears streaming down her face.

Xenia grumbled,

“It’s hard to complain after seeing that smile…”

“Aahaha. Hukhuk.”

“Either cry or laugh, not both.”

“Mm. Then I will laugh. I should. Xenia, sorry for kicking you out.”

“No, I was just saying stuff. You okay now?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m totally fine. No, better than fine.”

Sseuk.

Ophelia and David held hands.

Neril smirked and said,

“We have to go now.”

“What? W-wait.”

The two hurried toward us.

David grabbed my hand.

“If you felt upset because we asked you to leave……”

“That’s not it. As I said before, we still have far to go.”

“Ah, true. You have to travel across the entire continent with the Demon King.”

“Yes. With the number of crimes the Demon King committed, even ten days wouldn’t be enough.”

“Even so, we can’t send you off this quickly…”

“It’s not like we will never see you again. Once we finish what we need to do, we will visit again..”

Meanwhile, Ophelia and Xenia were talking.

“We will hold the wedding after you come back.”

“Pfft. Okay.”

“There will be a private chef assigned just for you at the reception.”

“No need for that…… actually, that’s nice. Thank you.”

“Xenia.”

Ophelia hugged Xenia tightly.

Even without seeing, I knew.

Xenia’s shoulder was probably getting soaked by Ophelia’s tears.

Patting her friend’s back, Xenia murmured,

“You said you would laugh, idiot.”

We left the Dronoar territory soon after.

Neril sat on one side of Agril’s back, making hand signs into the air.

I sat beside her and asked,

“What are you doing? About to cast a spell?”

“Not ‘about to,’ I have had one running the whole time. Append View.”

“What? Ah.”

“The Branch of Corruption’s time limit is almost up. I have to use every last bit of it.”

Meaning our pilgrimage was being broadcast not just to that territory but to everyone.

‘Hmm. Now that I think about it, how’s my current fame?’

[Should I show you?]

‘Of course. Don’t say silly things.’

[Ahem.]

<Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 9,889,000>

Last time I checked it was around 9.5 million.

Nearly 300,000 had gone up since then.

Same for the others, most likely.

‘At this rate, we will hit ten million in no time.’

Neril said,

“By the way, I removed scenes like Ophelia getting proposed to or Adwin’s family stuff. Too personal.”

“Good. It’s almost over anyway, so keep it up. Once we pass ten million, we won’t need to worry about squeezing out more fame.”

“Hmm. Really?”

“…….”

Neril snorted.

“As expected, you are planning to hit twenty million, right? Your face says everything.”

“Hmm……”

“I will help.”

“Huh?”

“I’m curious what kind of person you really were too. But promise me, no matter what secrets we find out, you won’t disappear.”

I nodded sincerely.

Neril let out a tiny sigh of relief.

“Well, even aside from that, we should gather a little more fame. If ten million is enough to beat Aktion, then eleven million will be even easier. Let’s collect as much as we can until this is over.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Just then…

Xenia, sounding strangely energetic, said,

“Mr. Mide, where to next? I think we have visited every place related to our party already.”

“You seem really happy. It’s because of the wedding banquet, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not even trying to hide it…”

I chuckled and was about to choose our next destination.

Then an unexpected voice spoke.

“Does it matter.”

It was Idria.

We all turned to her.

Since Ophelia refused her apology, Idria had stayed like that, staring up at the sky.

I asked,

“What do you mean, does it matter?”

“You’re not going to accept me anyway.”

“…….”

“Like Ophelia earlier, no matter how much I apologize, you won’t forgive me.”

I tilted my head.

She calmly continued,

“I think I finally understand humans a bit. It’s true, an apology doesn’t erase the harm or the wounds I caused.”

“…….”

“If it were material damage, maybe I could repay it with my authority. But what’s already gone can’t be restored. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to just begin the second trial right now?”

In that moment, I realized she was under a huge misunderstanding.

I pointed out that misunderstanding.

“You want to be forgiven by humans?”

Idria’s body flinched.

Her pupils trembled more violently than ever.

I asked again.

“You want to be forgiven?”

“……No.”

“I can’t hear you.”

“I said no. Damn it!”

Idria spat out a curse.

It was probably the first time I had ever heard her swear.

I let out a short laugh and said,

“Right? Because you’re a demon king.”

“And they are humans.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

She raised both hands.

Jjaak.

Then she slapped her own cheek mercilessly.

“I showed disgrace.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like you ever looked particularly good anyway.”

“You really can’t go a second without talking back.”

“You have to keep apologizing. Whether you’re forgiven or not doesn’t matter.”

“Got it, so stop talking.”

She walked toward her designated spot on Agril.

Then she dropped down and turned her back to us.

Trail spoke.

[All those long years I have observed Idria, but this is truly the first time I have seen her like that.]

‘Well, everything in this era is the first time. For Idria and for us.’

[Right. Honestly, I was really worried at first. When you said you would let the negative energy flow into Idria, and that you would leave the monitoring and management of it to me.]

Trail’s voice deepened a little.

[Of course, like you said, if I get stronger as Idria gets stronger, the physical management is doable. But Idria is so unpredictable, I wondered what kind of variables might pop up.]

“Hm.”

[But now at least she won’t commit crimes against humans.]

“……”

[That’s a relief.]

He paused.

He was probably looking at Idria, lying there turned away from us.

[Because I don’t have to kill her anymore.]

And so, we continued traveling across the continent.

We visited an average of four territories a day.

And in each territory, we revealed in detail the harm Idria had caused in the past, and made the demon king apologize to everyone.

If it was the kind of damage that could be repaired, Idria repaired it herself.

After what happened in Dronoar territory, Idria accepted this entire journey calmly.

Ten days later.

On the way back to the capital after finishing business in the final territory.

Xenia spoke in a deeply emotional voice.

“It’s over.”

Everyone opened their mouths one by one.

“It feels like a huge storm raged nonstop for ten days.”

“It was long. No, chronologically it was short, but mentally.”

“But it feels refreshing somehow. Like we have tied up the loose ends.”

“I’m completely exhausted.”

“Shouldn’t we get extra pay for this? Don’t you all think so?”

“No.”

Yeah. In any case, everything was over.

The promise to travel across the continent, make the demon king apologize, and repair all the damage.

I upheld that promise.

And the results speak for themselves.

<Mide Mohan / Total Fame: 10,715,000>

It surpassed ten million!

Now I can open the door to Aktion’s special room.

I don’t know if I will be able to overpower him, but at least I should be able to stand on equal footing.

And the other party members’ fame increased as well.

<Neril Slane / Total Fame: 6,739,400>

<Xenia Seide / Total Fame: 6,518,700>

<Adwin Ayn / Total Fame: 6,401,000>

<Lisel Vint / Total Fame: 6,310,300>

<Offense Dake / Total Fame: 6,221,900>

<Serein Magnus / Total Fame: 6,107,000>

When I told everyone their individual fame, Serein practically breathed fire.

“Why did I get overtaken again!”

“Who are you asking?”

“You, obviously.”

“Didn’t you say last time? That it can only be seen as the reflection of your usual character. If you want, try smiling brightly every day like me.”

“Aaagh, this guy gets more annoying every day!”

Let’s just ignore those two, who have been competing for last place since last time.

I asked Neril,

“What’s the remaining duration of your ‘Branch of Corruption’?”

“Now it’s exactly… hmm, 70 hours.”

“You were actually counting that in hours? Not that I have room to criticize since I asked.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“Anyway, the difference between you and Adwin, who broke a branch right after you, is small. It’s best to center our plans around you.”

Seventy hours, huh.

I took out the communication orb and contacted the Emperor.

Despite the late hour, the Emperor immediately answered.

–Yes, Hero.

“We have finished our business on our side.”

–I’m well aware. The Saint of Compulsion showed it in Append view every single day these past ten days. Are you on your way back to the capital now?

“Yes. As previously discussed, I would like to hold the Second Demon King Trial.”

–When would you like the date and time?

I scratched my head.

“I’m really ashamed to ask this, but… is tomorrow morning possible?”

The Emperor replied instantly, as if he didn’t need to think about it.

–Of course. Even if we must work through the night, we will prepare everything. will issue orders for an announcement across the continent immediately.

“Thank you. I feel bad for burdening you.”

–It’s difficult to handle hearing such words from someone as noble as you, Hero. Please withdraw them.

Ugh, my head…

Just then, Xenia’s voice came.

“We arrived. It’s the capital.”

“We have arrived at the capital, Your Majesty. I will see you at the same place tomorrow.”

–Yes, Hero. And all of you heroes, may you have a peaceful night.

I put away the communication orb.

Then I said to Idria,

“Wrap things up well tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

“We are staying at an inn. What about you?”

“Get me a separate room. Just like we have been doing.”

“Oh? I thought since it’s the last night, you would want to go visit the kids.”

Idria let out a small laugh and answered,

“Believe it or not, Mide.”

She looked up at the sky as she continued.

“I want to finish this properly too. Just like you.”

Those were the words of the Demon King of Lies.

But my instincts told me she meant it.

I scratched my head and replied,

“Good luck.”

…Not the sort of thing you say to a demon king, but still.

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