By Zephyria Spring is a good time to do something new.
“The weather is just like Korea.”
Early spring… no, was it even spring? It was a season so ambiguous it was hard to tell if it wasn’t still winter, when the construction of Eddie’s Inn began.
The location was the center of the plaza, the very spot where the inn had stood before.
It was such a prime location that it was questionable by what means Eddie had managed to secure it in the first place, so there was no need to move.
Once the location was decided, the blueprints prepared, and the necessary funds and manpower secured, the inn’s construction began in an instant.
Of course, the construction process was quite different from what Eddie knew. While the building codes were the same, the method differed; instead of people building it directly, it utilized sorcery and alchemy.
If sorcery were a discipline that even ordinary people could easily learn, this place would have developed as rapidly as Earth in the 21st century.
Eddie watched the construction proceed smoothly with a look of great interest.
“Ahem.”
Beside him, a young Magician diligently guarded the surroundings, keeping a watchful eye.
Danny, a young court Magician personally trained by Marquis Rivalt, was a bodyguard personally assigned by Marquis Rivalt to stand in for him.
Originally, the Emperor had intended to assign Marquis Rivalt himself, but Eddie had refused in horror.
No matter how important Eddie’s protection was, could it compare to the Emperor’s? Especially since he would be the most uncomfortable without Marquis Rivalt by his side.
Of course, Eddie’s own discomfort was a bonus, so after diligently refusing, Danny was assigned in place of Marquis Rivalt.
The young Magician, with his youthful and passionate personality, worked like Gerold, yet in his daily demeanor, he somehow reminded Eddie of Sebastian.
Sigh.
It had already been several months since he had last seen faces he used to see every single day, to the point of boredom.
While he hadn’t completely lost touch with Sebastian, as Eddie would sometimes visit with Danny, or Sebastian would visit Eddie, the emptiness was indescribable.
The one who made him feel the most empty was the presence that had always silently guarded Eddie’s side. Though he didn’t say it aloud to Eddie, Sebastian often fell into deep thought. It was obvious who he was thinking of.
As Eddie gazed at Danny, reminiscing about the past, he noticed a crowd gathering in one part of the central plaza.
“Hmm?” Eddie glanced over for a moment, then asked Danny.
“Danny, why are people gathering over there?”
Seeing Danny, who had been diligently on guard, startle, Eddie realized he had made a slip of the tongue.
Ah, he had habitually used honorifics again.
However, Danny knew that this young Prince found it difficult to drop honorifics because he naturally used them with everyone, so he quickly recovered from his surprise.
“I will check.”
He brought his finger to his ear. To an outsider, it might look like he was doing nothing, but he was concentrating mana on his hearing.
Before long, Danny discovered the reason for the crowd gathering in the plaza.
“A prayer meeting is being held on the other side of the plaza, and the Saintess is said to be visiting in person today. Prayer meetings are being held in various places these days.”
“Ah.”
It wasn’t that surprising. It had been over two months since the subjugation force had departed, and the seasons had changed in the meantime.
People were plagued by anxiety every day.
Would that nightmarish era return again? Would the days when they were too afraid to look out the window after sunset return?
Anxiety led people to seek God, and naturally, the Saintess, Laila, seemed to be busy.
No one could vaguely envision a hopeful future.
It was enough to make Eddie, who was building structures while dreaming of the future, feel awkward.
Eddie shifted his gaze to the newly constructed Eddie’s Inn. He could see the building, still just a skeleton of its framework.
Hope and the Saintess.
“Danny.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Please convey a message to the Saintess. Tell her I wish to see her briefly.”
He had something to discuss with her as well.
He couldn’t host the Saintess just anywhere, and due to the Pope’s poor relationship with the Emperor, Eddie couldn’t go to the temple himself. Thus, the only place he could meet her was the capital’s mansion where he had briefly stayed.
As he headed that way, Eddie habitually glanced back in the direction Ketron had left. Of course, he couldn’t see the Demon King’s Castle, where he had gone.
As the saying goes, you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.
Now that the body he touched and caressed every day was no longer beside him, he felt he understood loneliness, a feeling he had never experienced before.
Ket, what am I going to do? I really don’t think I can manage without you now.
He exhaled a sigh-like thought along with his breath and walked towards the mansion with Danny.
A horrific space where flesh-stripped, brutal corpses lay scattered, some hanging from the ceiling like meat in a butcher shop.
The floor was so messy that the parts not soaked in blood were fewer than those that were.
Blood, flesh, and severed body parts strewn about starkly revealed the ferocity of the battle that had taken place.
“Hoo, huff.”
Even though Ketron was as tough as iron, he was still human, and the two days of fighting had pushed his stamina to its limit.
Even the blade of the Holy Sword, which usually remained unstained, was completely covered in blood. At times, even the Holy Sword, which would usually complain and recoil at being dirtied, seemed weary from the continuous battle and remained silent.
Finally, in the deepest part of the Demon King’s Castle.
Though called the Demon King’s Castle, it was a tower. A colossal black tower that stretched upwards, seemingly without regard for the heavens.
This massive structure, attached to the southernmost tip of the continent, which people called the end of the world, had once been called a black lighthouse by those who didn’t know any better.
But now, no one dared to approach it, nor did they call it a lighthouse.
At the very top of that tower.
The place where the man who most desired to reach the heavens resided.
“Oh, you’ve arrived?”
Demon King Tarajiel hadn’t shown himself until Ketron broke through the final barrier. Only when Ketron shattered the last barrier of that room did he finally reveal himself.
As if he had leisurely enjoyed a late breakfast.
For Ketron, this was the second time he had seen the man since their encounter at Eddie’s Inn, and it had been a long time since he had seen him in his complete form. He was still the same.
He greeted Ketron, who had reached the end alone, with his characteristic beautiful appearance and relaxed demeanor, just as he had in the moment Ketron had driven the Holy Sword into his heart.
Of course, Ketron knew he wasn’t truly welcoming him.
“Trespassing and killing all my subordinates, aren’t you being a bit too rude?”
He made a trivial joke.
Ketron didn’t react and raised his Holy Sword. Tarajiel, looking at the blood-stained white blade, showed no tension. He chuckled, seeing his old nemesis, who didn’t even humor his lighthearted joke.
“Such a boring man. Yet Eddie loves you.”
At the mention of Eddie, Ketron’s expression, which had been unchanging no matter what Tarajiel said, contorted.
“Shut up.”
He tried to immediately silence him, hating to hear Eddie’s name from his mouth, but Tarajiel shrugged, unconcerned by Ketron’s reaction.
“Isn’t that a bit harsh for someone who saved Eddie?”
However, he was a man who couldn’t deny that he himself was responsible for the deaths. Instead of being swayed by the words, Ketron raised his Holy Sword high above him.
Kuwakwang! With a loud noise, a powerful blow struck the Demon King’s throne directly.
It was a strike intended as a threat, so Tarajiel easily dodged it.
Whew, Tarajiel whistled leisurely. Of course, he wasn’t actually that relaxed.
While it was certainly enjoyable to see ripples form on the surface of a usually calm lake, he no longer had the leisure to indulge in such things.
The lower floors of the tower were now stained with the blood of the Demon race.
They had loyally blocked the Hero for their master, the Demon King. The result was the sight of the Hero who had finally reached the top of the tower alone.
Some might call it cowardly, but they had already suffered one defeat, and he needed a perfect victory. The word ‘cowardly’ was practically a compliment to the Demon race; weakening him was commendable.
“There is one regrettable point.”
A cracking sound, dug-dug, began to emanate from Tarajiel’s body as his bones and flesh contorted. For a normal human, it would be excruciatingly painful, but Tarajiel laughed as if nothing were wrong.
“The one who created this story will never know the latter half of the story they didn’t create.”
“……”
“Of course, I find that quite satisfying.”
Though I don’t know about you.
Ketron offered no reply. He didn’t know if Tarajiel was referring to the author of this novel or the now-vanished story and its gears. But he wasn’t curious.
All that mattered to Ketron was defeating Tarajiel and returning to Eddie.
“What’s even more satisfying is that neither I nor you know what that latter half is yet.”
Tarajiel’s body began to swell. His skin expanded as if the human form he wore was shattering, and what was inside burst forth.
With a kugugung!* sound, the ceiling, walls, and floor, unable to contain his massive body, began to collapse.
It started as a giant snake, but it grew to a size that was difficult to call a snake. Wings shot out through thick membranes, and massive forelegs and hindlegs emerged, quickly taking on the form of some species.
From the mouth of Tarajiel, who had taken the form of a colossal dragon, a heavy voice boomed.
「Let’s rewrite the ending.」
Ketron wordlessly raised his Holy Sword.
It was the beginning of a battle that would last for days and nights.