Final Chapter: The Dungeon City, Zenelaus

The girl sighed. “This is clear insubordination. Of all the things, you just had to go out there and completely ruin my strategy!”

She was standing amidst the corpses of monsters and humans in the rubble, but she continued to speak in a ridiculously cheerful tone. I felt that her voice was a jarring mismatch in this hellish landscape.

“Hm, that’s strange... That child over there has blacked out, and I don’t sense the lich anywhere... And that thing usually releases that nauseating miasma which should double when this child is vulnerable, but it’s not there at all... Maybe that really does mean it’s dead.” She giggled. “Lame!”

The only person who should have been able to call off those flames was their summoner. But from what I can tell from that earlier shout, the impossible is happening. Someone is overwriting Eldred’s power with their own.

Only mages on a level far surpassing mine could achieve that.

The girl continued to talk aloud to herself. “If that’s the case, that begs the question of how the lich was killed, but...this blaze answers it all. The culprit is Eldred, for sure. The lich sure ran out of luck when it ran into that thing... Now that leads to another question: who’s his host? There’s a guy in a dead faint over there with...red hair? Nah, I can tell with one look that he’s lousy! He could only defeat Dreibach in his dreams. Which means...”

Well, I’ll admit it, I’ve been beat. A certain someone with a mind brighter than the sun has nearly dug up the whole truth.

“The one who curried favor with Eldred and offed the lich must be the one over...”

I couldn’t mistake that voice for anyone else. It was definitely her.

But from what I knew, this wasn’t an event planned by fate. After all, she would never choose to come to the southern half of the continent.

If her absence from the Dustour Empire was noticed, the numerous rebel factions in the north would come together and start an uprising. That was why she couldn’t be in Zenelaus.

But in truth, she was the only candidate that came to mind when I thought about who could possibly tamper with Eldred’s skills.

Step by step, an enigmatic being approached me.

The mood shifted with a snap, and my heart raced, slamming into my chest. I was terrified. Me!

“My my. You were strong enough to defeat my favorite, but you’re scared of me?”

Nanatrij, the Great Spirit of Darkness. She was the final boss in the anime and never stepped out into the spotlight until the very last arc. There was no way anyone could have anticipated her to appear near the opening of the story’s timeline!

“Don’t ignore me. I’ll kill you.” There was a dangerous edge to her voice. “Someone of my level can easily tell the difference between someone actually out cold and someone trying to play me for a fool.”

I’m not brain-dead; I know you can...

Punching a hole through my expectations, the founding mother of the Dustour Empire was there before me. The girl who had thrown away her humanity looked directly down at me from above and our eyes met. Her eyes were pitch-black, so dark that I might be sucked in just from looking at them.

It seems that...it’s futile to try and deceive her.

“My deepest apologies, but I’m dead tired. I’ve been through the wringer due to an intense duel that only ended moments ago, you see.”

“That sounds about right. You defeated that lich, after all.”

The girl before me was a human who had refused to remain as one. In that aspect, she was similar to Eldred, but they were completely different at the core.

I couldn’t move my body at all, but I made my best effort to put on a brave front before the being that even caused spirits to tremble in fear.

“I’m totally spent right now. Only a depraved person would cast a spell on me in this state, don’t you agree?”

“No way. You actually managed to endure all that without an ounce of strength left in your body. What kind of ghastly training did it take to produce someone like you?”

“Well... The education I’ve received ever since I was a child was not so dissimilar to brainwashing.”

“Is that how it is? The rumors don’t seem to be far off from the truth, then. Daryth’s House Denning is said to be a sadistic and savage household.”

“You saw right through me. You know exactly who I am.”

“And right back at you, Dragon Slayer of Daryth. But now that I’ve seen you up close, I have learned so many things about you.”

“You don’t say. So, what did you figure out, exactly?”

“You can see spirits.” The tone of her voice made it clear it was not a question.

Stunned speechless, it took me a while to fish out a reply. “You’ve got me there.”

I really didn’t know how to react.

There was a world only visible to me, and my father had demanded that I take this secret to my grave at all costs, yet she uncovered it easily, without breaking a sweat. I had no idea how she had figured it out either. I suppose this is what it feels like to face someone completely out of my league.

“Pleas for my life would probably fall on deaf ears, huh,” I mused.

“As if I could make any other choice. What do you think I am, an idiot? I learned that a human with the ability to see spirits belongs to a hostile country. If I don’t kill them immediately, there’d only be a disaster down the line. On top of that, my target is in such a weakened state and this is an opportunity that will never present itself to me again. Tell me, do you think I could pass it up?”

I took a deep breath. “I don’t.”

“Right? And on top of that, if the news of that child losing to someone from the south gets out... Ah, it’s no use looking to that adventurer for help. I’ve put him to sleep with a spell so he shouldn’t rouse for a long while.”

I stilled. With resignation in my heart, I closed my eyes. So she plans on covering it all up by burying everyone along with the truth, huh?

There were still many adventurers left in Zenelaus. However, they probably couldn’t put up a fight against her. Nanatrij’s strength was equal to that of the Three Musketeers, after all.

“Before I kill you though, I would like to ask you one thing. Why’d you only kill the lich and save that child? I’m pretty sure it isn’t the case, but did you realize that he has a death wish?”

“When I borrowed Eldred’s power, I saw the truth for myself,” I muttered slowly. “All the blame fell on the lich.”

“I see. That makes sense, since Fire Grandpa seemed like he despised what the lich did so badly... At one glance, Eldred looks like a battle junkie with several screws loose, but he’s surprisingly levelheaded. That reminds me, I promised that child that I’d kill the lich and release him from its control after the war was over, but...” She shook her head. “He actually went ahead and tried to get the guild master of Zenelaus to kill him instead! It seems that punishment is in order after we get back.”

Oh...so that’s why the musketeer disobeyed orders and came to this city.

It’s too late though. Learning all this now won’t change my fate. In other words, my journey ends here, huh?

But I don’t have many regrets, to tell the truth. After all, I tried really, really hard, didn’t I?

No Face, who had snuck into Kirsch Mage Institute. Sepith Pendragon, who had taken aim at Alicia in Yoram. Sekhmet, the black dragon which had come to Kirsch to snatch the princess of Huzak away. And it was the same in Huzak too.

I had always toed the thin line between life and death... I did a pretty good job, didn’t I?

Ah, but... If I were allowed to make one last wish, I wanted to bid farewell to her.

“Hm? Oh, Dreibach, you’ve recovered already? Huh? You want to deal the fatal blow or something? I don’t really mind, but... H-Hey! Ow, ow ow! Stop pulling my arm! What’s with you all of a sudden?! Hey, wait! Are you listening to me?!”

Huh? What’s going on? Why is she suddenly squawking like that?!

I cracked open my eyes. Yep, Nanatrij is still there. What is she looking at— Wait, seriously?

There was a human there who looked somewhat world-weary. It was Dreibach Steibelt, the man who had been cursed by the lich and was transformed into a monster. In the end, I never got to exchange even a single word with him. However, the intellectual gleam in his eyes was identical to the popular anime character I knew.

“I know, I know! It would have been impossible for me to only dispel the curse without consequences! And I was only threatening him a little just now! Killing these guys here would start a war, and I don’t have any plans of doing that! But wait a minute, you’re the one who betrayed me first! After Rooney reported in, I ordered you to come back, but you ignored me completely and did whatever you wanted! Ugh!”

Dreibach began walking off to who-knows-where, and Nanatrij ran to keep up with him, her large witch’s hat bouncing as she did.

“Yeah, I know! I’m not blind; I know that thing has this guy’s back! Hear me out though. Sure, Altanger’s scent is around, but they aren’t actually here! There’s no way that thing would bother to save humans!” She turned to look over her shoulder. “Slowe Denning, you should be grateful! You owe me one for this!”

And just like that, she was gone. Running after the musketeer, she disappeared off into the city, which was on the brink of total devastation.

So...it looks like I’ve been saved?

“Well damn.” I sighed.

Hey, Great Spirit of Wind, I’ll be honest. I never thought there would be a day when you would actually be useful.

Though, uh, technically...it was just your scent that was useful, but still.

●

I gulped.

Oh no, oh no no no, I wailed internally.

The day had finally come.

I was back in my homeland, Daryth, and in the capital no less.

There was an assembly of people in the audience room of the royal castle that I had fled from so long ago. Her Majesty, the queen, was on the throne, with two people by her side. Princess Carina looked troubled, and the current gray-haired Guardian Knight had an unreadable expression on his face. To top it all off, there was a neat row of Royal Knights standing behind me.

You could cut the tension in here with a knife, I swear! And, uh...I can feel the bloodlust and a thousand eye-daggers stabbing into my back right now. This is totally not okay.

“I was looking forward to meeting you. Raise your head.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

I was sweating from head to toe. I felt just about as intimidated as when I had that confrontation with Nanatrij.

Her Majesty had remained silent for a long time, so I could only focus on lowering my head and kneeling with all of my heart.

But what do I do? I broke my promise with Princess Carina, and I even ordered Silva to bring the Mystical Sword out of the country! In cases like this, should I prostrate myself on the ground instead?

Well, at this point, just thinking about it won’t change anything. I’ll wait for the final verdict. That’s the only thing I can do.

“I admit, I had a difficult time trying to decide how I should begin this conversation. Should I praise you, or should I admonish you? That decision weighed on my mind until the last moment, but...” The queen trailed off. “I see that you have lost a tremendous amount of weight.”

“That is...because I went on a diet,” I said carefully.

“You must have traveled quite a road of thorns for you to have cast away the burden on your body.”

“I happen to have lived a considerably inexcusable lifestyle, so I believe that I was getting my just deserts.”

A quiet roar of hushed whispers broke out in the room. It seemed that my new, lean figure was more startling than my return. Well, I practically only ate those gross adventurer field rations in Zenelaus, so I wasn’t surprised. But now, I was a healthy little Slowe, in both mind and body.

“Are the people behind you the reason for your unease?”

I hesitated. “I...also think that this is the retribution I deserve.”

“I am sure that you knew this would be the outcome if you made a move on the Mystical Sword. That artifact represents their dreams, their aspirations. However, from what I can tell, you seem to have reflected on your actions, but have no regrets about your choices.”

I couldn’t come up with a reply to that.

She chuckled. “A lot has happened during my absence. A fugitive infiltrated the mage school, a Royal Knight had a change of heart, a spy of the empire was active in Huzak, and even a black dragon appeared in Kirsch. My, how dreadful. This country has been in a much more precarious state than I thought. And, if you were not present, I have the feeling we would have been on the path to a rather anarchic future instead.”

“You think too highly of me...”

“Indeed, you broke your promise with my daughter Carina and took the Mystical Sword out of this country without permission. However, thinking back on it now, those are trifling matters. There isn’t a single person here who wishes to punish you, you see.”

My mind was drawing a blank. “Huh?”

“Many have come before me and pleaded for leniency when considering the judgment for your actions. Even at this very moment, the masses have gathered outside just to get a single glance at you. So for me to punish you after all you have done...” The queen shook her head. “The very thought of it is absurd. From what I’ve heard, you also had a good reason for traveling with the Mystical Sword. It was a necessary measure, I am sure of it. After all, it helped save Galland City in the Freedom Union.”

Just like I had thought, it was difficult to keep everything that had happened fully under wraps. The official story of the incident in Zenelaus was that everything had been the lich’s fault. Apparently, Nanatrij had taken it upon herself to send a message to the wealthy merchants of the Freedom Union, threatening that they shouldn’t divulge the truth if they valued their lives. Quaking in their boots, they had decided to feign ignorance about the whole thing.

As for the Eye of the Crimson Lotus, who was also in the know, he had promised that the majority of the information wouldn’t leave the privacy of his mind.

“Moving on, it took me a long time to figure out the manner in which I should express my will to you. However, now that I see who you are in the present, my mind is set.”

From the looks of things, despite everyone’s silence...the queen seems like she knows what I did in Zenelaus. Now, the question is how much she knows...

That reminds me. Ugh, Shuya! I’m in a super tight spot right now, but that guy’s having the time of his life at school...

The reconstructed Kirsch Mage Institute had reopened only last week. Apparently, a bunch of the facilities had changed and I was dying to see them for myself, but I had been singled out and summoned to the capital.

I heaved a sigh inwardly. Please, let me go back to my heart’s home of respite as soon as possible!

“There are probably those who would have objections to my opinion. I also do not imagine that my wish coincides with what you truly yearn for. Thus, consider this as a proposal.”

My thoughts went to the Guardian Knight standing next to the queen. Sir Delfrey, the Moonlit Guardian Knight, looked down at me from his elevated station.

It had been a while since I last saw him. Ah, right, we haven’t met since that incident, have we?

“There will be many hardships lying in wait in my child’s future, and—”

Back then, I had still been referred to as the Prodigy of Wind. A very beautiful woman had held my hand at a ball and had led me out onto a balcony. There, two people had been waiting for me. One was a girl who had looked around my age, and the other was a household name in this country, Sir Rudolf Delfrey, also known as the Moonlit Guardian Knight and the strongest man alive. That had been the moment I realized who exactly had been holding my hand.

“Would you please become my daughter’s Guardian Knight?”

The queen of my country’s words had a discernible weight behind them. It wasn’t a reenactment of that past encounter. This time, it wasn’t a joke.