Epilogue
One month had passed since the battle at the demon capital. Miledi and her comrades, the old members of the Reisen branch headquarters, and the entire Schnee clan were currently in the forest bordering the Obsidian Tundra. They’d decided to stay in the southern continent for a while to keep an eye on Rasul. It would also have been hard to cross continents with a group this big and not attract attention. Since, including the chimeras, the group was over 100 people strong.
Still, Dylan and Katy needed a secure place to rest, so the party would need to move eventually. While their bodies were healed, their souls weren’t there yet. Miledi had already gotten in contact with the closest Liberator village, and they were making preparations to accept all the rescued test subjects into their ranks. Eventually the plan was to create a new permanent residence for the Schnee clan, but for now, they just needed a place to stay.
Incidentally, Meiru had been the one who’d advocated moving to a nearby Liberator village instead of staying in the Obsidian Tundra first. Mostly because she couldn’t handle the cold.
Fortunately, the forest they were hiding in was known as the Forest of No Return to nearby demons, so they avoided it like the plague. Meaning Miledi’s party was unlikely to get spotted. The reason it’d been given that name was—
“Oh my, Meiru-chan! You’re back to wearing that swimsuit again! What happened to the clothes I made you?”
“P-Please don’t make me wear those...”
Meiru’s voice was surprisingly meek. That was because she was up against the lord of this forest, a musclebound drag queen. He was the reason this forest was known as the Forest of No Return. Anyone he got his hands on did technically come back, but they were never the same. His name was Jinglebell. He was, in fact, a Liberator. And not just any Liberator either. He was the Liberators’ best tailor and the one who’d made Miledi’s clothes. Though he was a demon, he couldn’t use magic. Because of that, he’d been persecuted by his peers. In order to escape the bullying, he’d trained his muscles to the point where he could counter magic with brute strength alone. He actually had enough physical power to take on an entire battalion of demon soldiers. Incidentally, Snowbell considered Jinglebell his master.
“Good going, Bell-neesan! Corner her... Ahem, I mean, make sure to dress her up nice!”
“Miledi-chan, I’ll make you pay for this later.”
Meiru fled from Jinglebell, who was trying to force her into a frilly dress that he’d made. Miledi watched from the sidelines, cheering Jinglebell on. A short distance away, Oscar, Naiz, and Vandre were honing their close combat skills. Though at the moment, Oscar and Vandre were just glaring at each other.
“So what you’re saying is, back then, you used those glasses to locate where everyone in the castle was?”
“Yeah. They’re amazing, aren’t they? I can even use them to get a bird’s-eye view of myself.”
Some time back, Oscar had enlisted Mikaela’s help to enchant his glasses with her Soul Sight. They were the reason Oscar was able to easily dodge attacks in chaotic melees, and why it seemed like he had eyes in the back of his head. It was also what had helped him find where Vandre was when they’d mounted their rescue. Oscar could see through anything and everything at all times.
“I see. So basically, you’re a creep,” Vandre said bluntly. Irked, Oscar replied, “At least my glasses aren’t as stupid as your muffler. Why do you even wear that when it’s not cold?”
“Don’t insult my muffler. You just have no appreciation for art, you perverted four-eyes.”
“Stop insulting my glasses, you wannabe artist.”
“What’d you say?”
“You wanna go?”
“Haaah, why do you two have to argue about every little thing?”
Naiz sighed deeply. Recently, Naiz had been saddled with the unenviable duty of mediating Oscar and Vandre’s arguments, and it was exhausting him. Susha, who’d come to watch Naiz train, cocked her head and asked, “Is this what they mean when they say best friends fight a lot?”
“They’re definitely best friends alright!”
“R-Really?”
“Well, you don’t normally see our brother get that emotional about things, right?”
Yunfa, Corrin, and Ruth carried on the conversation. Next to the children, Mikaela dropped to all fours and muttered, “H-He called it creepy... He called my special magic creepy...”
“D-Don’t worry about it, Mikaela. No one actually thinks that. Vandre just said that cause he’s talking to Oscar, he doesn’t really believe it,” Shushu said, trying to cheer Mikaela up.
“I-Indeed. Normally, Van-sama never insults people like that. Though it seems he acts much ruder when he’s around your leader... and especially when he’s around Oscar-dono.”
Margaretta wasn’t sure how to feel. She was happy Vandre had found friends he could be frank with, but at the same time, Vandre’s constant arguments with Oscar caused a lot of other people trouble.
“Shushu’s right, Mikaela. We’ve been saved by your power a bunch of times. No one thinks it’s creepy.”
“Marshal-san...”
“Besides, it’s not like you use it to peep on people or anything. So be proud of—”
A guilty expression suddenly appeared on Mikaela’s face.
“M-Mikaela? Don’t tell me you...”
“I-It’s not what you think! It was just an accident! I wasn’t peeking on you on purpose, Marshal-san! It’s not like I think you look sexy when you’re bathing or anything!”
Everyone started scooting away from Mikaela. Realizing she’d slipped up, she nevertheless tried to defend her honor. But her excuses were interrupted by the flapping of wings.
“Ah, it’s Creme-chan.”
At Corrin’s words, everyone looked up at the descending eagle. It seemed Tim had a message for them. Miledi let Creme land on her head and took the letter tied to its leg.
“Wait, this is from Badd?” Miledi murmured. Everyone was suddenly more interested in the contents of the letter. After all, they hadn’t heard from their vice-leader since he’d gone off on his journey. As Miledi read through the letter, her expression suddenly changed. Her eyes grew serious and she bit her lip worriedly. Once she was done reading she looked up and said, “The church... has declared war on the Haltina Republic.”
The Liberators stiffened up. Miledi clutched the letter tightly and added, “Badd’s in the republic too. He’s asking for help.”
She looked around at her comrades, and they all nodded firmly to her. No one said a word, but they didn’t need to. Everyone was thinking the same thing.
“Let’s go. To the Pale Forest.”
Everyone could tell this would be a vital turning point in the history of the world.
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