Neril and I stared at each other with blank expressions for a moment.

It was truly a perspective we hadn’t even considered.

But my mother stayed completely serious the whole time.

“I don’t know where you two plan to settle later, but at the very least, I hoped the wedding would be held here in this territory.”

“Uh……”

“Then we could invite Ben and everyone else who knows you here, and hold a grand wedding. If you ask, the lord might preside over it himself.”

“No, wait. That’s the problem right now?”

“Is there a bigger problem?”

My mouth opened and closed silently.

My mother tilted her head briefly, then suddenly looked startled.

“Ah! Did I get ahead of myself?”

“…….”

“You haven’t even proposed yet. Oh dear, what do we do, Neril. I’m sorry.”

Neril responded like a soldier startled by a superior.

“Not at all!”

“Goodness.”

“S-sorry. Uh…… um.”

“No. I’m the one who should apologize. Son, let’s pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Feeling my face growing hot, I nodded.

My mother spoke again.

“So I’m supposed to keep you being alive a secret too, right?”

“Yes. Please. I’m sorry I can’t tell you the reason.”

“No matter. A hero must have his reasons.”

With a gentle expression, she continued.

“Thank you for risking danger just to come tell me.”

“It’s only natural.”

“How long will you be staying here?”

“I have to leave tomorrow. There are still a few things I need to wrap up.”

“I see. Then hurry and finish them.”

I studied my mother’s face closely.

Her eyes were swollen from crying so much earlier, but overall her complexion had improved a lot.

Relieved, I said:

“You should leave this prison now.”

“Hmm?”

“When I come back, I will ask the lord to let you out. Well, Neril will ask, since I’m supposed to be dead.”

Not quite as strong as mine, but Neril’s fame of ten million was no joke.

A fame so high that even past heroes would seem distant beneath it.

Neril insisted she wasn’t a hero, but there was no way the lord would refuse her request.

“I……”

“Even if he refuses, I will take you myself, Mother.”

“……Son. There is something I haven’t told you yet.”

I knew exactly what she meant.

Father’s abuse and my mother’s affair.

Which came first?

The soul of my father that Adwin showed me last time had touched on that point.

But I had decided never to uncover it.

I said,

“It’s fine. I don’t want to hear it.”

“What? But…”

“That matter is finished now. Even if it isn’t, I’m not the one who needs to resolve it.”

“…….”

“Sort it out in the afterlife in a hundred years or so. Father will be there, and Uncle Soyan too.”

My mother nodded with a bittersweet smile.

Then, to lighten the mood, she said playfully:

“But a hundred years? If I live a hundred more, I will be 200 when you round up.”

“…….”

“There is no one who lives that long.”

I stared at Neril.

Her face turned bright red.

“What. Why.”

“No, nothing.”

“To be honest, you are in no position to say stuff like that anymore.”

“…….”

Now that she says it, she is right.

On our way back home…

Neither of us spoke much.

This is all because my mother said weird things.

My steps gradually slowed.

Neril’s steps slowed along with mine.

Before I realized it, we had both come to a stop.

“Why?”

At her question, I quietly watched her.

The full moon in the sky lit her face.

Impulsively, I spoke.

“Come to think of it, even before regression, you had that side to you.”

“Huh?”

“Back then, I kept everyone at a distance, so I wasn’t close with the other party members. And yet, the person who talked to me the most was you.”

A faint blush touched Neril’s cheeks.

The words came out of me without thinking, but I didn’t want to stop now.

“I treated you pretty stiffly too… but even so, you always sat beside me and looked into my eyes.”

“…….”

“Even the night before the final battle, you asked me what exactly I didn’t trust about Kaeld, said your thoughts were similar to mine, little things like that.”

“…….”

“If you added up all the conversations I had with the other party members before regression, it probably wouldn’t match the amount I talked with you.”

Her face reddened even more.

I’m sure mine looked the same reflected in her eyes.

So I asked,

“Why were you like that back then?”

“How should I know? I don’t even remember.”

“Well, that was a dumb question.”

“But I can guess.”

Neril looked straight up at me.

“I think it was for the same reason I have now.”

“What reason?”

“I think the me from that time liked you. Of course back then, with the situation and atmosphere, I never would have said it out loud. Not even as a joke.”

“…….”

“Ahem. Hey, Mide.”

Her red lips looked impossibly beautiful.

“The first time we met in this era was at Grey’s tool shop, right?”

“Yeah. I knocked him out first and waited for you.”

“Well… since we are lovers now, I guess I can say this comfortably.”

“Yeah.”

“Ah wait. No. I can’t say it comfortably.”

She rubbed her face repeatedly with both hands.

Then, with great effort, she said:

“I think I fell for you at first sight.”

“Eh.”

“I finally worked up the courage to say it and that’s your reaction?”

“No, it’s just… you were really cold back then.”

“As the Witch of Carnage, that’s how I acted. Hiding my true feelings and wearing a false mask.”

She quietly stepped closer.

Knock.

A cute sound seemed to come from somewhere.

Neril was resting her forehead against my chest.

“When I heard you were the Swordmaster of No-killing, I was actually really shocked. I had already taken interest in that name the first time I heard it by chance.”

“Y-You did?”

Thinking about it… it makes sense.

Back then, Neril didn’t even know the name of the Martial King Terce, or the famed necromancer Mariana, she wasn’t interested in the world at all.

At that time, my fame was only a few hundred.

Even though it was only the level of “someone you might know” or “a name you might have heard of,” Neril, who had always wandered the world with a sense of detachment, acted as though she knew the name Swordmaster of No-killing.

I swallowed once and opened my mouth.

“I’m not good at saying things like this, but our meeting really was fated……”

“Kkhup.”

“…….”

“I didn’t laugh. Go on.”

“You laughed.”

“Sorry. It’s just… you are saying something that doesn’t suit you at all.”

“Forget it.”

The mood was ruined.

I scratched my head.

“I will just do it the way I always do. Is that okay?”

“Of course. I’m ready.”

“Let’s get married.”

At my utterly plain words, Neril smiled brightly.

And she answered with a reply just as plain as my proposal.

“Okay.”

Sseuk.

Then she linked her arm around mine and leaned her body against me.

Cheok cheok.

Without either of us needing to say anything, we resumed walking.

Neril asked.

“When?”

“Right after we get my mother out of that prison.”

“Hm. Where should we do it?”

“Where do you think would be good?”

“Should we do it at your house?”

“Uh, isn’t it too small for a wedding?”

“We don’t have anyone to invite anyway.”

The cold night breeze brushing against my cheek feels nice.

Feeling Neril’s warmth, I continued speaking.

“No. We are going to invite a ton of people.”

“You can’t let people know you’re alive.”

“I’m going to get Adwin’s help and invite every hero.”

“Oh. That would work. Good idea.”

“In that case, my house is a bit too small, right? Actually, what about doing it at the starting point?”

“That place doesn’t have many good memories, you know?”

“What do you mean? It’s where Adin collapsed and where you crushed Kaeld.”

“Well, if you put it like that… yeah, that sounds fine.”

It doesn’t feel like the kind of conversation you have right after proposing.

But what can we do.

Both Neril and I are just that kind of people.

This way feels much more natural and comfortable.

“Oh right, make sure you give me a ring later.”

“Right. I didn’t think about that. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. An impulsive proposal is pretty fun to receive.”

“I’m lucky to have such a generous wife.”

“Mm. You’d better appreciate it..”

My house comes into view.

Neril lets go of my arm.

Just when I started feeling a faint disappointment from the sudden loss of warmth…

Hwiik.

She suddenly grabbed my face with both hands and turned it toward her.

Then she rose slightly onto tiptoes and kissed me on the lips.

A sudden kiss for a sudden proposal.

I wrapped my arms around her back.

How long did we enjoy each other’s softness like that?

Neril broke the kiss and said,

“I really love you, Mide.”

What greeted us as soon as we returned home was an incredible pile of empty bowls.

They said they were having dinner, but it feels more like they threw a party.

Lisel spoke.

“Ah, you are back. Huh?”

“What?”

“You two just have… that kind of atmosphere……”

Truly Lisel, usually clueless to an absurd degree, yet randomly extremely perceptive.

Adwin cut in.

“Huhu. So that’s how it is.”

“What now.”

“A healthy grown man and woman, together in the middle of the night… argh!”

Thud.

Xenia smacked Adwin on the head.

“You are embarrassing enough already, so don’t push it. Oh, and we saved dinner for you two.”

“You didn’t eat it?”

“Why would I eat your meal?”

“Wow. You have grown.”

“What do you even think of me normally.”

Anyway, food can wait.

I looked at the map spread out on the table.

Judging by the looks of it, the Demon King’s side and my party member must have been discussing something after dinner.

“What were you talking about? You have even got a map open.”

“I will tell you.”

It was Idria.

She pointed at one spot on the map.

“You carry a rather high-grade map around. This island is drawn on it.”

“Petra Island?”

“It’s drawn because it has been discovered, but the empire’s authority doesn’t reach that small island at all.”

She continued slowly.

“If things went well this time, my children and I were discussing where to hide. I’m considered to have gone to the underworld, and my children are believed to have already died at your hands.”

“…….”

“Even if the empire grows and extends its authority further, they will never care about this island. It’s a rocky island with no strategic value and no resources.”

She had never told us directly, but it seems Idria had been quietly imagining her future in her own way.

Trail spoke.

“How about making a declaration to the emperor for safety? Say Petra Island is forbidden and no one should approach it. If you and the other request it, he will obey immediately.”

“You are being stupid, Bion.”

“Ha. Can’t believe I’m hearing that from you.”

“When you tell humans not to approach something, they want to approach it more. I have been studying humans diligently.”

“You look oddly pleased.”

Ignoring him, Idria continued.

“Mide Mohan’s grand and noble final moment is a ‘lie’ that must never be broken through all ages. As the Demon King of Lies, shouldn’t I protect that beautiful lie?”

“Good grief.”

“If we designate Petra Island as forbidden, it will only arouse the curiosity of future generations. I don’t want to create that possibility.”

“You are thorough.”

“Don’t worry. Humans can’t live on that island anyway. And even if someone happens to set foot there, we will be able to hide ourselves well enough.”

Then she said to me,

“I will protect this lie forever.”

“Hearing that from the Demon King of Lies is reassuring.”

“Hehe. The Demon King and the Hero working together to protect a lie… what a funny thing.”

She showed a surprisingly gentle smile.

Then she stepped back slightly and said,

“Now we will go.”

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