Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Zero - Volume 5 - Chapter 1

Chapter I: There’s No Way My Little Miledi Can Be This Cute!

A little over a month had passed since the war between the Haltina Republic and the Elbard Theocracy ended.

Peace and calm slowly returned to the Pale Forest. The victory celebrations were over, and people were now mourning those who had fallen as they labored to repair the damage the war had done to the forest.

But while the beastmen had started to calm down at long last, in a part of the forest a short distance from the capital, things were still quite heated.

“Uwoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

A bloodcurdling scream resounded through the otherwise silent forest. The densely packed trees absorbed a lot of sound, but the scream was loud enough that it resonated despite that fact.

A powerful shock wave followed the scream, shaking all the nearby trees.

“Fighting spirit alone won’t get you anywhere.”

There were two people fighting. One of them was Oscar Orcus, a bespectacled young man wearing all black. The other was Vandre Schnee, a youth who had his hair on one side in a braid and a muffler wrapped around his neck.

Oscar swung his black umbrella in a wide horizontal arc, his expression grim. In response, Vandre narrowed his eyes and brought one leg up while also dropping his elbow, trapping Oscar’s umbrella with ease.

Thanks to Oscar’s transmutation abilities, the umbrella was a full twenty kilograms of super-compressed, dense metal. On top of that, Oscar was using body strengthening magic and the powers of the numerous artifacts he had on hand to enhance his abilities. Despite all that, however, Vandre had been able to stop his full-powered swing without batting an eyelid.

“I can read you like a book,” Vandre sneered.

“Or so you think.”

As wind whipped around the two of them, Oscar stomped his foot against the ground. A number of his Metamorph Chains shot out and headed straight for Vandre. They surrounded him, leaving him nowhere to run. Their ends had been sharpened into spearheads as well.

Oscar was going all out. If anyone who didn’t know these two had been watching, they would have thought they were actually trying to kill each other. Though, oddly enough, it was only Oscar who was going for lethal attacks. For his part, Vandre simply watched calmly as the chains went for him. There was no bloodlust in his eyes.

Still, he did look pissed off. The man in front of him had no appreciation for art and continued to mass-produce disgusting failures one after another.

His muffler flapped in the wind as he gracefully dodged his way through the chains. In one fluid motion, he got behind Oscar, using him as a meat shield against his own creations. He also crafted a dagger of ice to parry the few chains that he couldn’t dodge before going for a back attack against Oscar.

“Gah!” Oscar yelped as he just barely managed to redirect his chains from hitting him, but that left him open for a split second.

Vandre’s job was an artist, which meant he had a natural talent for martial arts as well. Or so he claimed, but considering he really was a skilled martial artist, no one could argue against him.

“Die, fucking four-eyes,” Vandre said that and stepped forward, pushing off the ground so hard that the earth shook, then launched a punch with all the skill and force of his martial talent behind it.

Oscar was too off-balance to dodge, so all he could do was use the sleeves of his Ebony Coat to block for him.

Vandre’s Tiger Fist slammed into the coat with unparalleled destructive force.

“Gah!”

There was a loud boom and Oscar was sent flying, the shock wave damaging his internal organs. He bounced around like a pinball before finally slamming into the trunk of a tree so hard that his breath was forced from his lungs.

“Gah... Shit!”

He tried to struggle to his feet, but he couldn’t push himself up off his knees. He retched violently, puke spilling from his open mouth. Once he was done, he looked up to see a shoe coming down on a branch in front of him.

“That’s our hundredth match. I’ve won eighty, while you’ve won twenty. Hmph! I thought you showed promise for a shitty four-eyes, but I guess not.”

“Oh, so you did have hope for me, then?” Oscar tried to keep his tone light, but he said those words through gritted teeth.

Vandre wasn’t in the mood for joking either and he said coldly, “You’re the one who wanted our sparring matches to be as close to real fights as possible. So tell me, what the fuck is this pathetic display? Remind me again, four-eyes, how many of our matches have you won in the past ten days?”

“...”

“If you won’t say it, I will. Zero.”

After the battle at the Demon Lord’s castle, when they’d been hiding in the forest between the snowfields and the empire, Oscar and Vandre had begun sparring as part of their training. For the first fifty bouts or so, Oscar hadn’t been able to win a single time. But Oscar kept improving and eventually he started taking wins off of Vandre. Though he would never say it to Oscar’s face, Vandre had grown to respect Oscar’s sheer tenacity, as well as the ingenuity he used to make up for his lack of close combat skills.

Once the war between the republic and the theocracy had ended, they’d resumed their sparring matches, and Oscar’s newfound ferocity had earned him a string of unbroken victories. But that had only been at the start.

A week passed, then two. By the third week, Oscar had regressed to a shadow of his former self. It was like he’d forgotten everything he’d learned and was just rushing recklessly into the fray over and over.

In the beginning, he’d analyzed his opponents carefully, seeing through all of their trump cards and using his vast array of artifacts to counter each one of them. His crafty, versatile tactics and ability to think on the fly had made him a formidable opponent.

But now, you couldn’t see any of that genius in his fighting style. Oscar’s methodical approach had instead been replaced by impatience, unease, and desperation. It was easy to see he was frustrated by his own powerlessness.

The fact that he was in a slump was obvious to everyone, and the reason for that slump was just as obvious.

“If you’re like this, Miledi’s just gonna laugh at you when she wakes up.”

“Ah...”

The problem was that Miledi had yet to open her eyes.

At the end of the war, she’d dueled one of the apostles who had come to destroy the sacred tree Uralt.

She knew that if she wanted to change the world, she needed to defeat the biggest symbol of Ehit’s might. She needed to show people that the church’s power wasn’t absolute. That the desire for freedom was stronger than any tool in Ehit’s arsenal. As the leader of the Liberators, it was her duty to lead the charge. And in the end, Miledi had won that duel.

The fight had pushed her to her limits, and something had awoken inside her during it. But whatever she’d grasped, it had come with a cost.

Her abnormal power had been so strong that not even an apostle could stand against it. It had seemed like the very planet they lived on had been granting Miledi its strength.

Naturally, wielding such an enormous power had put a huge burden on her. Meiru’s restoration magic had been able to heal her physical wounds, but despite that fact, she’d been in a coma for the past month.

Everyone believed that she was just recovering from the exhaustion using such powerful magic had caused her. They were certain she’d wake up again. After all, there was no way Miledi Reisen’s story was ending here.

The Liberators firmly believed she’d open her eyes eventually. But that didn’t stop them from worrying. And the longer she slept, the greater that worry grew.

After a while, Oscar couldn’t help but think that if he’d just done more to damage the apostle before Miledi had gone off to fight her, maybe she wouldn’t be in this state. He was filled with regret, disgusted by his own powerlessness.

Of course, Vandre understood how Oscar felt all too well. But even so, he glared coldly down at the synergist and said, “Everyone’s doing what they can to prepare for the coming battles.”

“I know.”

“Even without Miledi, the Liberators won’t falter.”

“...”

“No, we can’t afford to falter because our leader expects us to stay strong.”

Oscar grit his teeth and rose to his feet. His expression was a mixture of affirmation and rebellion. He knew Vandre was right, but he still didn’t like hearing that from him.

“Miledi showed her strength to the world. Now it’s our turn. The world needs to know that we’re with her. Most importantly, she needs to know that we’re with her. That’s why you need to take this training more seri—”

“I know, goddammit!” Oscar roared and rushed forward, starting their 101st sparring match.

Vandre clicked his tongue, disappointed by the desperation he saw in Oscar.

“If you really knew, then you wouldn’t be putting up such a pathetic fight!”

Vandre crafted a spear out of ice and met Oscar head-on.

The sounds of battle echoed through the forest like a drumbeat, and the numerous shock waves shook the trees. At a glance, it looked like a ferocious fight to the death. But it sure didn’t seem that way to the sole onlooker.

“They’re in really low spirits...” Meiru muttered, not bothering to step in and stop them. She was sitting on a nearby stump with her chin resting on one hand. In her other hand was a walnut-shaped piece of ore that she was fidgeting with. Frankly, she looked bored out of her mind.

For the first ten or so days after the war had ended, she’d been running around healing the wounded and helping fix up the capital, but now there wasn’t anything for her to do.

“I miss being so busy I didn’t have time to rest.”

In general, Meiru was the kind of person that loved lazing about. When she didn’t have work to do, she just kicked back and relaxed...or went to bother busy people. In other words, she was a mooch.

It was unbelievable that she actually wished she was busy now. Had any of her old pirate crew heard her say that, they would have thought something was wrong with her.

Of course, Meiru’s transformation from a good-for-nothing pirate queen to a productive member of society was also a result of Miledi’s coma.

“I can’t believe I used to brag about how there was nothing I couldn’t heal. How embarrassing.”

At least if I had something to do, I wouldn’t be dwelling on how useless I am, she mused.

Even though she was the group’s healer, she couldn’t heal the one person she wanted to aid the most. She was useless in the one situation where her skills truly mattered.

She sighed, the sound lost amidst the clamor of Oscar and Vandre’s battle. Just then—

“Good afternoon, Onee-sama,” a girl said as she stepped through the white fog blocking off the training grounds from the rest of the forest. She had silvery-blonde hair and wore a white dress that looked as if it had been made from the fog surrounding her.

It was the queen of the forest, Lyutillis.

“How are the two of them—? Actually, I suppose there’s no need to even ask.”

“What did you come here for? Go away.”

Lyutillis let out a soft moan of pleasure as she walked gracefully over to Meiru. Her elven ears were wiggling with excitement.

Realizing that she’d moaned out loud, she coughed awkwardly, glanced over at Oscar and Vandre’s ferocious duel, and asked, “Shouldn’t you stop them?”

“They’re just messing around.”

“It looks to me like they’re trying to kill each other.”

“Oscar-kun’s been feeling depressed the past few days. This is nothing.”

“Are you...sure about that?”

Oscar and Vandre kept going for vital spots like the neck, head, and heart. Honestly, this could hardly be called training anymore. It certainly didn’t look like they were messing around either. The bloodlust in both of their eyes was clearly visible.

Meiru smiled sadly at Lyutillis and replied, “Yeah, it’s nothing. This is just Oscar-kun’s way of relieving stress...and Van-kun’s playing along.”

The only Liberator who could take Oscar’s attacks head-on without any trouble was Vandre the martial arts master.

“Besides, Van-kun’s asked me to watch just in case one of them does go too far.”

“Oh...I know what this is. Miledi-tan told me. He’s simply being ‘tsundere,’ right?”

“That’s right, Van-kun’s a tsundere. Fufu.”

If you listened closely, you could hear Oscar and Vandre hurling insults at each other.

“Die, you hack artist!”

“Shut up, fucking four-eyes!”

“I’ve had enough of you calling me four-eyes, you muffler freak!”

“Insult my muffler one more time and I’ll kill you for real! You have no eye for beauty!”

Lyutillis nodded sagely as she listened in on their conversation.

“They do seem to be the same as usual.”

“Exactly. Which is why I’m sure Oscar-kun’ll be just fine.”

Lyutillis breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Meiru, who was shrugging nonchalantly.

Oscar might have been fine, but what about Meiru? To Lyutillis’s eyes, Meiru seemed to be just as depressed as him. No, perhaps it would have been more accurate to say that she’d lost her sense of confidence.

“What?” Meiru muttered uncomfortably. She didn’t like how intently Lyutillis was staring at her.

Lyutillis nodded thoughtfully to herself. Then, after a few seconds, she walked directly in front of Meiru and...got down on all fours.

“Onee-sama, please sit on me instead of that hard—”

“Die.”

There was a visceral crunch as Meiru’s heel slammed into Lyutillis’s head. But of course, that only caused Lyutillis to let out an ecstatic moan. The force of Meiru’s kick made her head hit the ground, filling her mouth with dirt.

She raised her head immediately after that and said, “I’m so grateful for this wonderful reward!”

“Well, I’m not grateful that you’re such a pervert.”

This time Meiru stomped down on Lyutillis’s head with her foot, keeping her stuck in the ground. Unfortunately, that only served to make Lyutillis happier. Her smile grew wider even as her nose was pressed into the dirt.

She was a complete masochist through and through. Not only that, but her best friends were cockroaches.

Basically, she was a failure of a queen.

“Wait, don’t you have paperwork you need to do?”

Lyutillis could tell Meiru was just trying to get rid of her, which got her even more aroused. She looked up at Meiru, her face caked with mud.

Even when she knew it was a roundabout way of telling her to get lost, Lyutillis would never dream of ignoring a question from her fated onee-sama, the natural sadist Meiru.

“I’m on break right now. You’ve been in low spirits recently, so I thought it might help if you joined me for a tea party...”

“Oh, sorry for making you worry.”

“But I’ve changed my mind, I’d much prefer it if you keep insulting me so I can get rid of this pent-up stress.”

“Never mind; worry about me more.”

She’s absolutely hopeless, Meiru thought with a long sigh. Though she had to admit Lyutillis had actually made her feel a teensy bit better.

“Heh heh, feeling more energetic now?” Lyutillis asked with a smug wink. She had the unique superpower of being able to read people only when they least wanted their minds read.

I’ll never admit it, you damn pervert! Don’t give me that smug look. You haven’t made me feel better at all!

But before she could shout as much to Lyutillis, the elf’s expression changed. She looked regal...and you couldn’t sense any of her perverted masochism anymore.

“Meiru, be proud of yourself.”

“What do you—?”

In that moment, she truly was the mystical queen of the forest. Her jade-green eyes pierced through Meiru, laying her soul bare.

In her periphery, Meiru could see Oscar, whose glasses had been snapped in half, and Vandre, whose muffler was torn to shreds, beginning their 102nd bout, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Lyutillis.

“You’ve done more than you can possibly imagine for my nation. The trees, animals, and people have all been healed by you.”

Had Meiru not been here, the death count would have been tenfold. Only a miracle worker like her could have healed that many people.

“The nation of Haltina is deeply indebted to you. We can never thank you enough for what you’ve done for us.”

The Saint of the Western Seas had crossed the entire world to come here. And for good reason, it seemed.

Originally, Meiru had adopted that title to help hide from the church, but now it was a moniker uttered with respect by her comrades.

“You should be proud of what you accomplished,” Lyutillis said firmly. “So...why aren’t you?”

“But...I mean...”

“Because Miledi still hasn’t woken up?”

“...”

“Because you weren’t able to cure Oscar’s siblings?”

“Ah...”

“Because of what happened to the sacred tree?”

Meiru grit her teeth.

“Yes! Every single time it actually matters, my healing powers aren’t good enough! What is there for me to be proud of?!” she exclaimed, glaring daggers at Lyutillis.

“I boasted about how great my healing powers were, but I couldn’t do a damn thing to save your sacred tree. I deserve to be laughed at. If anything, you should be the one insulting me. I’m useless!”

This was the first time Meiru had openly whined to Lyutillis. And that brought a smile to Lyutillis’s face. One that was warm and gentle, but also stern.

“People aren’t gods, Meiru.”

Meiru’s complaints died in her throat, her cheeks going red. There was nothing more embarrassing than having her own arrogance pointed out to her.

“Besides, you don’t need to worry about the tree,” Lyutillis said, sidling closer to Meiru and running her fingers through her hair.

“I explained it to you before, didn’t I? This is all the tree’s own will.”

“I know, but...”

Normally, Meiru would have slapped Lyutillis’s hand away, but her caresses were so gentle that she couldn’t.

She thought back to the current state of the sacred tree, Uralt. It was the pillar of the republic, as well as a symbol of its strength. But during the final battle, God’s Apostle had snuck inside and attacked the tree’s core. As a result, the thousand-meter-tall tree had sunk a good four hundred meters into the ground, the trunk was riddled with cracks and fissures, many of its leaves had fallen, and the branches had lost their vitality.

Naturally, Meiru had tried using restoration magic on the tree, but—

“Right now, the tree isn’t accepting any outside interference except my own. And unfortunately, even I cannot open the door to its core.”

The Guardian Rod that Lyutillis wielded still retained its power to change the structure of the outer parts of the sacred tree, control the Pale Forest’s fog, and regrow the plant life within it. But the tree was presently preventing Lyutillis from using all of its other abilities, including the power to manipulate its roots or enter its inner sanctum.

The tree had made it clear that no one was allowed to see its core, regardless of the reason. Not even Lyutillis, the tree’s representative, possessed that right. Thus, Meiru wasn’t granted entrance, even if she did possess the ancient magic that could heal it.

“The tree hasn’t withered. And it’s slowly but surely healing itself.”

From what Lyutillis could tell, the tree had simply retreated into its shell while it went into self-repair mode.

“Is it not the Liberators’ creed to respect the free will of others? Uralt is clearly saying ‘I don’t even need your help, Meiru, I can fix myself on my own, you scrub.’ You should respect its will.”

“What’s with that condescending tone?”

Lyutillis stopped stroking her hair and kneeled in front of Meiru. She then placed her hands on Meiru’s knees and looked up at her.

“Miledi will wake up. I’m sure of it,” she said confidently.

“...”

“Oscar’s siblings will regain their personalities as well,” Lyutillis continued as she pointed at the object in Meiru’s hands.

“I know you haven’t given up. You’re trying your hardest even now, right? You’re forgoing sleep to train your powers to greater heights.”

The tiny chunk of ore, which she’d borrowed from Oscar, was made of sealstone. It was the most resistant thing to magic in this world and frequently used to make prisons and shackles. Only ancient magic could interact with it without getting completely absorbed. Meiru had been constantly casting Revival Reversal to restore its wounds, then Tetragrammaton to fix it.

She’d complained about having far too much free time, but in truth, she’d been training nonstop, just like Oscar and the others.

“Don’t give up. No matter how daunting the task may appear, no matter how great the obstacles are, you’ve already done the impossible once before. Isn’t that right?”

So of course you’ll be able to do it again.

“There’s no need to worry. Everything will be all right.”

Lyutillis gave Meiru a reassuring smile as sunlight filtered through the trees.

After a brief moment of silence, Meiru turned away, pouting, and replied, “You’re getting too big for your britches, you perverted queen.”

“Thank you very much.”

With that, any dignity Lyutillis might have been projecting vanished.

Does she actually have a split personality or something? Meiru pondered. That was how drastic Lyutillis’s shifts were.

By some miracle, she’d managed to hide her masochistic side from her subjects for decades now.

Regardless of whether it was a split personality or not, Meiru was getting tired of Lyutillis squeezing her hands. Just as she was contemplating breaking a few of Lyutillis’s fingers, Vandre shouted, “This is the end, you shitty four-eyes!”

“Gaaaaaah?!”

With that, the boys’ 102nd match came to a close. Oscar got sent flying straight into Lyutillis’s back.

“Buhiiiiii!”

The force of the impact caused Lyutillis’s head to smack directly into Meiru’s knees. There was a painful crack and Lyutillis let out a strangled scream.

“Oh my, two hits at once.”

“Nnnnnngh what a wonderful surprise present!”

Lyutillis staggered backward, cupping her broken nose. She looked equal parts in pain and ecstasy. Blood dripped from her nostrils, staining her dress.

“Ngh. Whoa, sorry, Lyu. You okay?!” Oscar hurriedly apologized as he crouched down in pain.

“I’m not okay at all! You meanie, O-chan-san! You’re the best!”

“Thank god you’re the same as always.”

“Excuse me? Just look at how you dirtied my face.”

It was true that Lyutillis looked rather unsightly, her expression rapt while still twitching from the pain of having her nose broken. Her creepy laughter didn’t do anything to help her case either.

Had any of her citizens seen her like that, they would have been traumatized. Especially the children. It wouldn’t be good for their sexual education to see Lyutillis’s fetish either. Meiru quickly healed her up so she wouldn’t have to look at her.

Look, here’s another great contribution I made to the republic... Meiru thought sarcastically, puffing her chest out.

Incidentally, Lyutillis had taken to calling her comrades by the wonderful nicknames O-chan-san, Van-chan-san, and Nacchan-san whenever there wasn’t an emergency.

Oscar, Vandre, and Naiz had all insisted that she use their actual names, but she kept returning to those odd nicknames. Considering she’d named her first friend, a cockroach, Uroboros the Writhing Darkness and her second friend, the poisoned butterfly, Deadly Rainbow Dietrichs, it wasn’t too surprising that her naming sense was godawful.

At any rate, Vandre walked over to where the group was, crushing branches underfoot. He looked extremely annoyed.

“Hmph. Do you realize how pathetic you are now?”

“Onee-sama, Onee-sama. That translates to ‘did that help get rid of some of your stress,’ right?”

“You’ve gotten so good at tsunderish, Lyu.”

“Shut up, you!” Vandre snapped at the two girls, then pulled a new muffler out of his Treasure Trove.

“Well, what do you want me to do?” Oscar grumbled while pulling a new pair of glasses out of his own Treasure Trove.

“I don’t feel like I’m making any progress. I don’t feel like I’m getting any stronger,” he said as he put his new glasses on.

“Like I said before, that power Miledi used wasn’t normal,” Vandre replied as he started wrapping his new muffler around his neck.

“It’s not the kind of strength you can get from a day of training.”

“Well, I need to get it! Otherwise, Miledi...”

The whole reason why Miledi had been looking for fellow ancient magic users was so that she could have comrades that were on the same level as her, comrades strong enough to watch her back. Which meant if Miledi had reached new heights, Oscar and the others had to as well. They all needed to grow strong enough to fight an apostle. Otherwise, Miledi would once again end up being the one protecting everyone.

“Sure, but if you could get that power just by rushing headlong at things and praying to get stronger, then everyone would have it by now,” Vandre stated coldly, tugging on his muffler to hide his expression.

“How can you be so sure?” Oscar countered, adjusting his glasses to hide his eyes with a reflection of light.

“Miledi awoke to that new power when she was at her limits, didn’t she?”

“So you’re trying to force yourself into a corner? Hah, that’s not pushing your limits. You’re just throwing a tantrum.”

“Huh?!”

“Oh?”

Oscar and Vandre glared at each other, their faces inches apart.

Meanwhile, Lyutillis wailed, “I-It’s no good, Onee-sama! The way they put on their muffler and glasses was so dumb that I can’t pay attention to their conversation!”

“D-Don’t say it so loud! You’ve got to take a hint and not laugh! Also, don’t ask them how many spares they have. That question’s a trap!”

“But I mean, look at how they put them on, Onee-sama! They were totally in sync, and they used their accessories to hide their expressions in the exact same manner! Just how close are they?!”

“Bah ha ha! Stop, you’re going to make me laugh so hard it hurts!”

The two of them trembled as they struggled to contain their laughter. Lyutillis imitated Oscar and Vandre’s respective accessory-adjusting motions in an attempt to make Meiru crack up. It was funny just how diametrically opposed the girls’ and guys’ conversations were.

Oscar and Vandre wanted to call the girls out, but they knew from experience that ignoring them was the smarter course of action.

Oscar once again brandished his umbrella, ready to throw his battered body into yet another sparring match. But just before he could, he was interrupted.

“What madness is this?” Naiz asked in an exasperated voice, stepping through the barrier of fog.

“Oh, welcome back, Naiz-kun.”

“Welcome back, Nacchan-san.”

“Please stop using that silly nickname...”

At this point, Naiz was basically the only real adult in the group.

Resting on his shoulder was a small black bug, Lyutillis’s best friend, Uroboros.

Meiru and the others had been terrified of him at first, but at this point they were used to him. He was just such a gentleman, and a hard worker to boot. No one could remain afraid of him for long.

Even now he was striking a pose and wiggling his feelers in a way that seemed to say, “Well, friend, if you ever need someone to guide you through the forest, just call on me!” He did that for a few seconds, then hopped off of Naiz’s shoulder and vanished into the forest.

The fact that he didn’t even expect anyone to thank him showed just how generous he was.

“Welcome back, Naiz. How are Uruluk and Kuou?”

“They’re resting. I pushed them pretty hard.”

“I see. Did you get what I asked for?”

“Yep.” Naiz glanced back over his shoulder as he provided that answer, prompting Vandre to nod in satisfaction.

As Oscar greeted Naiz, he gave him a puzzled look.

Since Naiz could use teleportation magic, he made for the perfect messenger, as well as an ideal transporter of goods. Vandre had also lent him two familiars, the wyvern Uruluk and the ice wolf Kuou, so that Naiz could continue moving even while he was recovering his mana.

Ever since the war had ended, Naiz had been running from one place to the other, delivering essentials.

He’d returned to Haltina just once over the past week, then immediately headed off again for the empire. He’d only just now returned again.

“Did you ask Naiz to get you something?” Oscar questioned Vandre. He knew what messages and goods Naiz was scheduled to deliver, but judging by the looks Vandre and Naiz were exchanging, Vandre had made some personal request he wasn’t aware of.

Seconds later, he realized what that request had been.

“U-Umm...Onii-chan?”

“Corrin?! Is that you?!”

Peeking out from behind Naiz was Oscar’s younger sister, Corrin.

All members of the former Reisen branch of the Liberators were currently split into different groups, including Corrin.

Marshal and Mikaela were keeping an eye on the Odion Federation’s movements, while Badd had gone back to serve as temporary chief of the Angriff branch. Shushu was with the Schnee clan in the empire branch. Corrin and the other noncombatants were living in a new village located in the northeastern part of the southern continent, between the Pale Forest and the Obsidian Tundra.

The new settlement had been named Sainttown. It had medical facilities to treat everyone who’d fallen victim to the church’s plan to make divine soldiers, as well as the chimeras the demons had created to fight against ancient magic users, who were all resting and recuperating there.

Oscar looked down at Corrin in surprise. He hadn’t heard she’d be coming.

“What’s all this about, you shitty muffler man?”

“Listen up, fucking four-eyes.”

Naiz massaged his forehead as the two started hurling insults at each other. Corrin, on the other hand, simply blinked in confusion.

“I’m getting tired of playing along with your pointless, meaningless, games...and I’m tired of seeing you in such a shitty state, so I asked Naiz to bring the cure.”

“By cure, you mean...”

“They say nothing can cure stupidity, but you’re enough of a siscon that I know this’ll work. All right, Corrin, teach this moron just how much of a fool he is!”

So that’s what all this is about... Oscar thought, turning back to Corrin.

Chances were, she’d heard everything from Naiz already. She turned from Naiz to Vandre, then to Meiru and Lyutillis. Finally, she looked at her beloved older brother. One glance told her all she needed to know. She balled her hands into fists and resolutely stepped forward.

“Onii-chan, I heard about what happened to Miledi-onee-san.”

“O-Okay.”

Even though she was walking slowly, Corrin looked intimidating. She had the same aura that Moorin had had whenever Oscar did something wrong as a kid and she was about to scold him. Though whenever that had happened, Moorin had smiled, while Corrin currently looked dejected.

Unsurprisingly, Oscar staggered backward.

“I’m worried,” she said, and her shoulders slumped a little.

Oscar suddenly straightened up. Corrin was quite fond of Miledi. She must have been just as depressed about her coma as he was. As her older brother, this was no time to be moping.

“Don’t worry, Corrin. This is Miledi we’re talking about. There’s no way she’ll kick the bucket that easily. She’ll be up and annoying the hell out of us again in no time.”

When he was around Corrin, Oscar acted ten times more confident and reliable. Even when he himself was plagued with doubts, it was a conditioned reflex for him to seem unshakeable in front of his sister.

He knelt down in front of Corrin and smiled at her. She countered with a smile of her own.

“I know! I believe she’ll be fine too! And...I’m really glad you’re all okay. Everyone was really worried about you. They can’t wait to see you guys again.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait to see Ruth and the others too.”

He’d planned to go back once Miledi was up and about. Corrin easily picked up on the implication, probably because the two had spent so much time together that they knew each other inside out.

“But you don’t have to push yourself too hard.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess not?”

What’s with the sudden change in topic? Oscar wondered. He brought his hand up to adjust his glasses, but before he could, Corrin grabbed his hand.

“That’s one of your bad habits, Onii-chan. When you don’t like what someone’s saying, you push up your glasses like that.”

“Wha—?! Th-That’s not true!”

There were a few exclamations of surprise at how easily Corrin had blocked Oscar’s signature move.

“You’re scared, aren’t you, Onii-chan? Even if you’re smiling, I can tell.”

Corrin covered Oscar’s hand with both of her own and looked intently at him.

Corrin sure has grown a lot since I joined the Liberators. Both physically, and mentally. She’s like everyone’s older sister now.

Oscar’s description didn’t do her justice. She wasn’t just like an older sister, she was like Mother Moorin’s successor. There was no way he’d be able to beat her in an argument now.

“I know I can’t understand how hard it must be for you, since you’re fighting for everyone. But you know...”

Miledi-onee-san would cry if she saw you like this.

“I’m sure everything will work out better if you start acting like the dependable big brother I know again.”

After all...

“That’s how it’s always been, remember?”

Which is why...

“Don’t panic, Onii-chan. Okay?”

Corrin gave Oscar a gentle, loving smile.

Incidentally, she was still only eight years old. However, her words were enough to drive Oscar to his knees.

“Corrin...you’re right, I’ve been thinking about this all wrong.”

The tension drained from his body. He’d been high-strung ever since Miledi had fallen into a coma, but for the first time in a while, he felt himself relax. It was as if he’d been shown the light.

Honestly, his overreaction creeped Corrin out a little, but she was currently playing the part of the super ultimate holy mother, so she didn’t let it get to her.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry for lecturing you. It’s not that you’re mistaken, really. You’ve just been trying too hard.”

She wrapped Oscar’s head in a warm embrace, just like a saint would. She was only eight, but to the onlookers she seemed to be glowing like an angel. But again, she was only eight.

“My little sister is such an angel...”

It was hard to tell if Oscar’s voice was trembling because he was disgusted by how pathetic he’d been acting or because he was scared of how quickly his little sister was evolving.

“Mother...”

“Mama...”

Meiru the deadbeat and Lyutillis the pervert muttered softly. They’d always had a few screws loose, but in that moment it looked like it was more than just a few.

Both of them looked enraptured. A refreshing breeze blew past their faces, rustling their hair. Even Vandre was affected.

“I don’t believe it... I knew she’d be the perfect cure, but I didn’t think she would work this well...”

Naiz gazed off in the distance and said, “You have no idea how hard I had it getting her out of the village.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone desperately tried to stop me from taking her. Some of them even clung to me and cried their hearts out... It felt like I was doing something evil.”

“Say no more. I understand completely.”

There had already been signs of this when Oscar and the others had left the village. Whether they were combatants or not, the members of the Liberators had all begun turning to Corrin for emotional support. Even the members of the Schnee clan, who hadn’t known her long, had gotten attached to her.

“Saint Corrin.”

“The Holiest Girl.”

“Why did Meiru have to end up getting restoration magic and not our Corrin-chan?”

“I want Corrin-chan to be my mom.”

Those were the kinds of things people said about Corrin after she healed them with her innate kindness. Even though she hadn’t finished adapting to life as a Liberator, she still went around looking after everyone, seemingly happy any time she could help. She never looked like she was pushing herself too hard, but she always seemed to be pouring her heart into everything, which brought smiles to everyone’s faces.

Recently, she’d become a master of all household chores as well. Her newfound skills had given her confidence, and now she had a much tougher core than she used to. That inner confidence also gave her the leeway to properly examine her surroundings and see more than she’d been able to before.

In other words, despite being only eight, she was more understanding than most people. It was easy to see where the name Sainttown had come from. Everyone had agreed the village should be named after Corrin.

“Van. The familiars you sent as her bodyguards...might not listen to your orders anymore.”

“I-I see.”

It seemed even Vandre’s familiars had betrayed their master and chosen Corrin over him. They’d gotten just as attached to her as the sentient species had.

When she’d left, everyone had come out to say goodbye to Corrin. They’d all said things like, “Come back soon!” or “What’s the point in living for tomorrow without you..” or “Damn you, Oscar! How dare you steal the position of her onii-chan...” The depths of their jealousy and despair had honestly scared Naiz.

They’d looked like drug addicts going through withdrawal to him. The only ones among them who’d given Corrin a sane goodbye had been Ruth and Moorin. In fact, were it not for the two of them, Naiz would have had a much harder time convincing the townspeople to let her go.

But honestly, what had truly terrified Naiz was the conversation he’d had with Susha afterward.

“Naiz-sama, why are you only taking Corrin with you? What about me?”

There had been a dark aura emanating from her and her eyes had glazed over.

“Sue-onee-chan, please take care of the patients while I’m gone.”

“But, Corrin-chan, this is my chance to join Naiz-sama for good. I—”

“I’ll come back as soon as I can, okay?”

“B-But I need to look after Naiz-sama and—”

“Sue-onee-chan.”

“Ugh...”

“Please.”

“Fine...I’ll stay here.”

With just a simple “please,” Corrin had been able to bring Susha back from the abyss.

Before, only Yunfa had been able to bring her older sister back to sanity whenever she got worked up about Naiz. But now Corrin had grown so powerful that Susha cowed before her as well.

While Naiz was reminiscing and the others were talking amongst themselves, Oscar finally recovered from his ennui.

“Mmm...”

However, he was too ashamed of how he’d been acting recently to meet Corrin’s gaze.

Fortunately, Corrin was as understanding as humanly possible. She turned to the others and said, “Meiru-onee-chan, Van-onii-chan, I’m glad you guys are okay too!”

“Can I hug you, Corrin-chan? Actually, no, can you hug me?”

“Thanks for coming, Corrin. You’re a real lifesaver.”

Corrin smiled awkwardly, ignoring Meiru’s request. Luckily, she’d already mastered the art of dealing with the moody pirate queen.

Meiru sank to her knees as Corrin walked past her and headed to Lyutillis.

“U-Umm, are you the queen of the forest? It’s nice to meet you! I’m Oscar-onii-chan’s younger sister, Corrin. Thank you for taking care of my big brother!” she exclaimed and bowed, looking suitably nervous for her age.

Lyutillis was exceptionally beautiful, as well as the queen of a nation, so it was hardly surprising she’d look intimidating to people who didn’t know the real her.

Corrin’s nervousness was compounded by the fact that humans normally weren’t allowed in Haltina, as it was the beastmen’s sanctuary. Of course, Vandre had already gotten permission from Lyutillis to bring Corrin here, but even so, she was afraid of accidentally saying or doing something rude.

The Liberators found her nervous attempts at formality endearing, and Lyutillis went into regal mode.

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Corrin. I am Lyutillis Haltina, queen of the Haltina Republic.”

Her smile was gentle and she radiated dignity from every pore. She got down on one knee and took Corrin’s hand in hers.

Corrin blushed, charmed by Lyutillis. Oscar and the others realized they needed to warn her before it was too late.

“Corrin, don’t let her trick you! She’s actually a huge pervert!”

“Oscar’s right, Corrin-chan! Get away from her before she corrupts you!”

“Naiz, didn’t you warn Corrin about how she’s the enemy of everything good and holy in the world?!”

“Ngh, I’m sorry. It’s just...the truth was so tragic that I ended up sugarcoating it a little.”

Confused, Corrin looked from Lyutillis to Oscar and the others. After a few seconds, she recalled what Naiz had told her on the way to Haltina.

“Lyutillis has a rather unique personality, but please don’t judge her too harshly for it. In fact, if she starts panting, just look the other way.”

Upon recalling his warning, Corrin took a few steps back.

Worried that Lyutillis would get turned on from a kid being disgusted by her, Oscar and the others warily watched to see if she’d started panting.

It felt akin to waiting for a time bomb to go off. But to everyone’s surprise, Lyutillis just gave her companions a sad look and said, “How cruel... I never had the chance to leave this forest and explore the rest of the world. Not only that, but because I was born a ruler, I never had any friends I could speak to on equal terms. I know I’m ignorant of the customs of the rest of the world, but...”

She’s putting on an act for Corrin! Oscar thought, realizing the truth. Not only is she hiding her true personality, but she’s even going so far as to play the victim to get Corrin’s sympathy!

“Don’t lie! You’re best friends with a cockroach and a poisonous butterfly!”

“What do you mean, ignorant of the customs of the rest of the world?! You’re abnormal even by the customs of your world!”

“You’re a masochist who gets off on being physically and verbally abused!”

“Quit hiding it!”

At first everyone had prepared to beat up Lyutillis if she let her masochistic side leak in front of Corrin, but now they were trying to force it out of her instead. It was a contradiction, but one that made sense. They absolutely did not want Corrin to be soiled by Lyutillis’s masochism, after all. If Corrin ended up respecting her without knowing the truth, that would be even worse! After all, Lyutillis was a hopeless pervert.

“This is too much, guys. I’m a perfectly normal, responsible, hard-working queen. Was I the only one who thought we were friends?”

“You little fox!” Oscar and the others shouted in unison.

“Corrin, you understand me at least, right?” Lyutillis pleaded, determined to keep up the pure queen act until the bitter end.

But Corrin gave her an awkward look and said, “Umm, Your Majesty...”

“Yes?”

“Umm, I already know that everyone who can use ancient magic is a little ‘off,’ so you can be your true self around me. I won’t mind.”

“Agh!” Oscar and the others shrieked and staggered backward in unison, having taken severe mental damage from being called “off.”

“Corrin, what do you mean by off?! Did you think I was a weirdo this whole time?! That really hurts, you know!”

Oscar desperately tried to get Corrin to retract her statement, but she just smiled awkwardly and brushed him off.

Oh no. If Corrin, the nicest girl in the world, thinks I’m a weirdo, my public image is doomed... Oscar wasn’t the only one who thought that either.

All the others crowded around Corrin, desperate to convince her they were normal, but—

“More importantly!” she shouted.

“What do you mean more importantly?!”

Corrin clapped her hands, silencing the Liberators. The strongest group of people in the world had been silenced by a girl at the tender young age of eight.

“I want to see Miledi-onee-san.”

That got everyone to calm down. After all, Miledi was their top priority.

“Good point. You came all the way here, so you should at least see Miledi before you go,” Oscar muttered.

“Heh heh, knowing Miledi-chan, she’ll wake up the moment she realizes you came to visit her,” Meiru said with a smile.

Vandre glanced over at Lyutillis, silently asking if it was okay to bring another human into the palace.

Naturally, she nodded. Corrin was Oscar’s sister, as well as a valued member of the Liberators, so of course it was fine.

“I’m worried about the people back at the village, so I can’t stay for more than three days, but I’ll do my best to take care of Miledi-onee-san while I’m here, Onii-chan.”

Corrin was well aware of her role, and she was always trying to do everything she could to help.

Tears sprang to Oscar’s eyes as he marveled at how much his little sister had grown. Though, in that moment, he looked more like her father than her older brother.

“You can stay for a whole week at least, can’t you?” he asked, not wanting to part with her again after just a few days.

“I can’t.”

“Why not? The patients back at the village are in stable conditions, aren’t they?”

“Yes, but the problem is how everyone else feels.”

“What does that mean?”

“I mean, Ruth-onii-chan and the others really wanted to visit you too, but...”

“Corrin...”

Now the tears were spilling freely from Oscar’s eyes.

Corrin was the only one who’d been able to reunite with Oscar this quickly. Even though everyone had been worried about him, only Corrin had been allowed to come. That was why she didn’t want to be selfish and stay for too long. Even though she did want to stay by Miledi’s side until she woke up, she knew it was best not to push it.

Corrin’s compassion and consideration were so great that even Meiru and the others were crying.

“Besides...”

“Hm? Hic... What is it?”

“If I’m gone too long, Sue-onee-chan will start losing it.”

“...”

“If she falls too far into the darkness, she won’t ever come back. Yun-chan might start losing it too. And if that happens, Naiz-onii-chan will be in trouble.”

“Oscar, three days is enough! Don’t ask Corrin to stay any longer! She knows better than anyone what Susha’s limits are! I’ll fight anyone who tries to stop her, no matter who they are!”

Naiz grew desperate after hearing that. Recently, Susha had become even more of a yandere, and while Yunfa appeared calm and collected on the outside, she was secretly plotting to make sure no one else dared to make a move on Naiz.

In a way, Naiz was a little happy that they cared that much about him. But at the same time, the two girls were twelve and eight, while Naiz was almost thirty. Sure, he was part of a revolution trying to bring freedom to the world, but he wasn’t fighting for the freedom to do immoral things. If he let his guard down and let the sisters drug him or something, he’d no longer be able to say Ehit was the one in the wrong with a clear conscience.

“You’re the only one who can keep those two in check, Corrin. You have to go back.”

Susha somehow knew everything Naiz was doing, even when they were thousands of kilometers apart. He was naturally terrified of her abilities that seemed to transcend space-time.

Lyutillis cocked her head in confusion upon hearing that and asked, “I haven’t met these two girls, only heard stories about them, but are they really that dangerous? Surely you can handle them, Nacchan-san?”

“They’re not dangerous. Sue-onee-chan and Yun-chan are both nice girls.”

Indeed, both of them were about as nice as Corrin.

“But they’re really in love.”

When it came to Naiz, they did whatever it took to win his affections. Corrin smiled at Lyutillis as she said that.

You’re so accepting of everyone, Corrin. Maybe too accepting... Oscar thought to himself.

“Yeah, you should probably go back sooner rather than later, then. I’m worried about everyone back at the village.”

“I guess once you get used to having a saint around, you become useless when she’s gone.”

“You’re terrifying, Corrin-chan!”

“Ummm...?” Corrin mumbled, seeming confused by all the remarks she was getting. Before she could ask for clarification, however, the party heard the sound of footsteps crunching on the grass, and they all turned to see who’d entered through the fog barrier.

It was Craid, the handsome leopardman who was the captain of the royal guard. And he seemed to be in quite a hurry. He was panting hard enough that he had to catch his breath for a few seconds, which was rare for the republic’s greatest swordsman.

“Craid, what’s wrong? Why are you in such a hurry? Has the theocracy attacked again?”

“N-No, that’s not it.”

He sucked in another big breath, his expression oddly bright seeing as this was urgent news.

“Miledi-dono has awoken!” he exclaimed, his excited voice echoing through the lush forest.

Everyone gasped and exchanged surprised glances. For a moment Oscar thought about joking that Corrin’s appearance had granted her salvation, but instead he just grinned and ran back toward the great tree, everyone following behind him.

The room Miledi had been sleeping in was the same one she’d been assigned when they’d first come to Haltina. Or, in other words, the room right next to Lyutillis’s.

Though the tree had sunk a good four hundred meters, the throne room, Lyutillis’s room, and other important chambers had all been pretty high up, so they were still above ground. In fact, they were easier to get to because they weren’t quite as high up anymore.

Corrin gasped in surprise as Oscar scooped her up in one arm and ran toward the great tree as fast as he could, the others following close behind them all the while.

“I’ll make us a shortcut!” Lyutillis shouted, waving her Guardian Rod. A small hole opened up at the base of the trunk, so everyone rushed inside.

“Wh-What’s going on?!” one of the patrolling guards shouted, but everyone ignored him.

They sprinted down the hallway, slowing only when they saw a large crowd gathered in front of Miledi’s room.

There was something off about the crowd, though. With how boisterous Miledi was, it wasn’t surprising that she’d cause a stir right after waking up. But the crowd around her room was rather quiet, which wasn’t at all normal.

“Miledi!” Oscar shouted, worried something might have happened to her.

When the crowd realized Oscar and the others had arrived, they parted to let them through.

Upon entering her room, Oscar found that Miledi was indeed awake.

“O-kun?” she muttered, sitting on her bed. Her bare feet poked out from below her long, white dress. Her blonde hair was unbound...and resting on her palms was Vandre’s most loyal familiar, Batlam.

During Miledi’s fight with the apostle, Batlam had served as Miledi’s shield. Though the apostle’s attacks had nearly obliterated it, Batlam’s core had barely survived, and he had since restored himself and become Miledi’s guardian.

As Oscar walked in, Miledi’s gaze shifted from Batlam to him. He could see himself reflected in her clear, sky-blue eyes.

Relief flooded through him when he saw that she was okay.

Off to one corner, on the opposite side of the bed, was Parsha Mill, the Haltina Republic’s prime minister. She was frowning slightly as she looked down at Miledi, and though Oscar took note of that, he was just glad Miledi was awake.

He put Corrin down and walked over to Miledi, a smile forming on his face. Forgetting to even wipe his eyes he said, “Thank goodness. Good morning, sleepyhead.”

Miledi still looked a little out of it, but she kept her gaze fixed on Oscar.

A few seconds later, Meiru and the others filed in as well. They were a little worried about how quiet Miledi was, but at the same time, she’d just woken up from a month-long coma, so they figured she was probably still getting her bearings.

Just as they were about to call out to her, they discovered why it was that Parsha was looking at Miledi funny.

“Mmm...” Miledi groaned, then put Batlam down and crawled over to where Oscar was standing. She stopped when their faces were inches apart and said, “O-kun.”

“M-Miledi?” Oscar asked, flustered. Miledi rested her head against Oscar’s chest, and he looked down at her in confusion.

There was a faint smile on Miledi’s face, and she closed her eyes, looking like she was at peace.

Not only that, but she started nuzzling against Oscar’s chest. He blushed, while Meiru and the others fell silent. They were at a complete loss for words.

At first everyone thought this was just another ploy that would end in her teasing Oscar, but the longer it went on, the harder it was to believe this was just an act. Hence why everyone was speechless.

Meanwhile, Corrin was blushing and covering her face with her hands. Though she was careful to leave gaps between her fingers so that she could still watch.

Miledi was showing pure, unvarnished affection for Oscar right now.

After a minute or two of silence, Miledi pulled back and said, “O-kun, you smell like sweat.”

“Huh?! O-Oh, that’s because I was training with Van until a few minutes ago.”

Oscar couldn’t bring himself to meet Miledi’s gaze.

He kept telling himself “This is Miledi, she’s just playing a prank on you!” but he couldn’t convince himself.

“But yeah, you probably shouldn’t stick so close to me because I’m all sweaty and—”

“Don’t wanna.”

“What?! Why?!”

“Because I like the smell.”

Miledi rested her head against Oscar’s chest again, her nose twitching. Her smile grew wider as she inhaled his scent.

“Ahhh!” she moaned.

Oscar froze in place, blushing to the tips of his ears.

Naiz and Vandre finally butted in, saying what was on everyone’s mind in unison, “Who the heck are you?!”

This was beyond anyone’s expectations.

Everyone knew Miledi was annoyance incarnate. They’d all thought the moment she woke up, she’d go, “Miledi-chan’s baaaaaaaaack! Come on, let’s hear some applause! The great genius mage Miledi-chan took down that big evil apostle. I’m so perfect and beautiful sometimes I scare myself! And I’m a genius to boot! Bwa ha ha ha ha!” Or at the very least, they’d expected her to act as boisterous as usual. But instead, they were hit with this.

What the heck is going on?! This isn’t Miledi! Our leader is never this honest about her feelings! She always acts like an annoying brat instead of saying what she’s really thinking! This isn’t fair! they all thought.

But at the same time, Meiru muttered, “T-Too powerful...”

It was clear from the blood dripping down her nose that by “too powerful” she meant “too cute.” She pinched her nose to stem the flow, but it kept going.

Corrin hurriedly handed her a handkerchief.

“U-Umm, Miledi-tan? Are you okay?” Lyutillis asked timidly, glancing over at Oscar who was still frozen in place.

She’d known Miledi for the shortest amount of time, which meant she could evaluate Miledi more objectively than the others, and she knew that Miledi harbored affections for Oscar.

However, she also knew that Miledi was not the kind of girl to ever outwardly show it. Miledi’s love for Oscar wasn’t a shock like it was to everyone else, but she still couldn’t understand why she was being so honest about it.

“Th-There’s no way she’s okay! Look at how she’s acting!”

“Did you figure something out, Naiz?!”

“That battle with the apostle must have been so fierce that it rattled her brain!”

“Naiz...you’re a genius!”

If anything, it looked more like Naiz and Vandre had lost their minds after seeing Miledi acting cuter than usual.

Eventually, Miledi drew back from Oscar, though it was hard to tell if that was because she’d been listening to everyone else’s conversations or if she was satisfied after getting her fill of him.

Either way, once she pulled back, her faint smile disappeared and she muttered, “Heavensfall.”

“Nnnrgh!”

“Ahaaahn?!”

“Your Majesty?!”

Naiz, Vandre, and Lyutillis fell to the floor as Miledi’s gravity magic pressed down on them. It turned out she had actually been listening even while nuzzling Oscar.

“Wh-Why me too?” Lyutillis asked. Parsha, Craid, and the other beastmen turned to Miledi as well, confused and more than a little shocked.

Miledi cocked her head to one side and replied, “I thought you’d like it. This is your reward.”

The beastmen looked even more confused at that, but not Lyutillis.

“Thank you very much! I love being forced to lick the floor!” she exclaimed, looking positively ecstatic.

Parsha and Craid sighed in exasperation while the other beastmen looked stunned.

Chaos was beginning to take over the room, but Miledi didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. Though she was quieter than her normal self, her tendency to do as she pleased without consideration for others hadn’t changed.

“Corrin?” she said, turning to the little girl who was dabbing at Meiru’s nosebleed.

“Oh, umm, long time no see, Miledi-onee-san.”

“Mmm...”

“Umm...I came here to help Onii-chan...”

“I see.”

Miledi stared into Corrin’s eyes, and the young girl eventually turned away awkwardly. She didn’t know how to handle this new version of Miledi. Though for very different reasons than Oscar and the others.

Corrin had always known that Miledi was just acting like a clown to keep her friends in high spirits and to keep her comrades’ morale high, even when Oscar and the others had told her she was mistaken. But even so, it was a bit surprising to see Miledi revealing her true self when she normally kept it hidden.

Corrin had always respected Miledi and longed to be like her, so it was a bit embarrassing to be scrutinized so thoroughly by her idol. She blushed, fidgeting slightly, and Miledi beckoned for her to come closer.

Corrin tottered over, while everyone else watched in suspense.

“Fwaaah!” she exclaimed as Miledi hugged her.

“Thank you...” Miledi muttered quietly.

“Hwuh? F-For what?”

In a gentle voice, she replied, “For the good luck charm. It saved my life.”

During the battle, Miledi had nearly given up because of how strong the apostle had been, but the necklace Corrin and Ruth had made for her had revitalized her spirits and given her the strength to go on.

The charm itself hadn’t held any special power, but the sky-blue necklace Corrin had gathered the materials for and Ruth had transmuted reminded her that people were waiting for her safe return.

“So...thank you.”

Corrin didn’t know what exactly Miledi was referring to, but she could tell that she was speaking from the heart, which made her tear up a little.

“Thank goodness. I’m so happy I was able to help, Miledi-onee-san,” Corrin said before hugging Miledi back, squeezing as hard as she could.

A warm silence descended over the room.

Even though Miledi’s expression was still blank, everyone could tell she truly was grateful to Corrin, and that she loved her a great deal. They could also tell just how much Corrin respected and admired Miledi as well.

The two of them hugging looked picturesque. Everyone else watched on silently, overcome by emotion.

A short time later, Parsha had cleared out all the onlookers so that Miledi could discuss what had happened. She was the only non-Liberator left in the room.

Craid stood right outside, turning away anyone else who came to visit, while Batlam had gone into the forest to replenish more of his missing mass. Though Batlam had recovered enough to look like a slime again, he was still missing most of his mass because he’d been watching over Miledi thus far.

Once people had been cleared out and everyone had calmed down, Oscar said, “So, Miledi...are you aware of how different you’re acting?”

Now that he’d regained his composure, his analytical skills had returned to him as well. He stared at Miledi, his eyes absorbing every single detail from behind his glasses.

After releasing Corrin, Miledi had returned to looking absentminded. It wasn’t so bad that she’d calmed down, but it seemed like she was lacking her usual vigor. Normally, she tried to act cheerful even when she wasn’t, and it had been long enough that the “she’s just regaining her bearings after waking up” theory didn’t hold water anymore.

As expected, Miledi just gave Oscar a quizzical look in response. It was Parsha, who’d been there when Miledi had first woken up, who answered in her stead.

“I suspect she doesn’t. However, it’s not as though she’s lost her cognitive abilities. She seemed to understand when I explained that the war was over and some time had passed since the final battle.”

Upon waking up, the first thing Miledi had done was ask whether or not everyone was safe. She did answer some questions as well, but it took her quite a while to think them over. She’d also asked for water when she got thirsty and food when she got hungry. Essentially, her memories were intact and she was able to take care of herself.

“Seeing as she blasted you guys with gravity magic for making fun of her, we can conclude her personality hasn’t really changed.”

“And the way she treated Corrin proves her emotions are still there too.”

“I’m not sure how best to define this change... If I had to say, it’s as if her assertiveness is gone?”

“I wouldn’t say gone, just reduced to its minimum level, maybe?”

“Hmm, maybe she just hasn’t fully recovered? Perhaps her brain’s limiting her thought processes and actions to preserve as much energy as it can.”

Naiz, Vandre, Lyutillis, Meiru, and Parsha all gave their opinions in turn. However, Oscar remained silent, his brow furrowed in concentration.

Judging by his expression, he had some idea of how Miledi had gotten to this state and why. From the looks of it, the reason wasn’t something good either...and Corrin seemed to have come to the same realization.

“Could it be that...?”

“Onii-chan, Miledi-onee-san reminds me of...”

Oscar knew exactly what Corrin was trying to get at.

“She’s like how Dylan and the others are...”

“What?!” Naiz, Vandre, and Meiru exclaimed in surprise.

Oscar looked over at Meiru, silently asking her for confirmation, and Meiru nodded with a grim expression on her face.

“Miledi-chan, I’m going to cast restoration magic on you, okay?” she said, then gently placed a hand on Miledi and started casting. Sunset-orange light suddenly enveloped Miledi.

“How do you feel?”

“Hm?” Miledi mumbled and gave Meiru a questioning look with her dull, yet not quite lifeless, eyes.

Restoration magic, the ancient magic with the power to cure any injury or disease, had done nothing for Miledi.

Regardless of what the cause was, there was nothing restoration magic shouldn’t be able to fix. If Miledi was just exhausted and that was why she was running on low-energy mode, restoration magic should have worked. But it had had no effect, and Miledi’s symptoms really did look similar to Dylan and Katy’s.

Dylan and Katy had been victims of the church’s experiments of transplanting the souls of ancient warriors into other people. Though restoration magic had helped them regain some of their consciousness, Dylan and the others still weren’t the same as they used to be.

The only conclusion that made sense was that the cause of their ailments was beyond what restoration magic could affect—somewhere in the soul.

This was exactly what Oscar and Vandre had been worried about when they’d been training.

Meiru grit her teeth, frustrated that she couldn’t even fulfill her duty as the group’s healer. Her hand went limp and started sliding off of Miledi’s head.

“I’m okay,” Miledi said suddenly.

“Huh?”

Miledi grabbed Meiru’s hand before it could fall off and brought it to her chest. Her dull, unmoving eyes looked into Meiru’s as she repeated, “I’m okay,” but with more force this time.

“Miledi-chan...” Meiru mumbled as she gazed up at the ceiling, and Naiz, Vandre, and Lyutillis followed suit.

“I’d expect nothing less from our leader,” Oscar said confidently, adjusting his glasses. There was a huge smile on his face. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Even though she’d been asleep for a month and suffered lasting damage to her soul, her words were filled with confidence. She really was the genius magician leader of the Liberators. The gloomy atmosphere vanished in an instant, and everyone breathed sighs of relief.

Naiz smiled as well and said, “Yeah, I guess you’re fine after all.”

“Mhm. Besides, we were planning on recruiting a spirit magic user as our next ally, so it all works out,” Vandre added, smiling as well.

“Now that you mention it, what has he been up to? Last I remember, he said he was going back to the capital to get his family, but...”

“Do you think he’ll manage to get out safely?” Lyutillis asked, voicing the concern everyone harbored.

Laus Barn was strong enough that he could match Miledi in a fight. In fact, he’d been able to fight on equal footing even when Miledi had been buffed by Lyutillis’s evolution magic. Of course, Miledi had reached new heights during her battle against the apostle, but Laus was as strong, or even stronger than the normal Miledi. He had far more years of experience, plus the ability to use Limit Break.

In truth, Miledi had lost once to Laus already. Her soul had been ripped from her body, and had it not been for Meiru and Naiz, she would have died. That was why Oscar and the others had decided to put their trust in Laus and wait for him to join them.

They hadn’t wanted to cause a stir while Miledi was still comatose, especially not in the city that acted as the heart of the church’s power. Even with spatial magic, it wouldn’t be that easy to infiltrate the theocracy’s capital, and they ran the risk of messing up Laus’s escape plans if they ended up tripping the alarm.

Though, of course, they hadn’t totally abandoned Laus to his own devices.

“The people from the main branch are working with the Esperado branch to scout out the theocracy. They have new safehouses near the capital and at the national border as well,” Naiz explained to Lyutillis.

“We also have our best spy on the case. Everything we could feasibly do, we’ve done.”

“You say that like she’s our trump card, but she’s the kind of girl who’ll slack off when given half the chance.”

“Yeah, that worthless bunny whined a whole bunch when we gave her the mission too. I knew she would, since she hates leaving home, but still...”

They were, of course, talking about Sui, the young bunny girl. Rabbitmen were normally known to be a peace-loving race, but Sui was one of the republic’s five generals as well as the leader of the army’s covert ops team. She was so good at stealth that even Oscar had been impressed.

Unfortunately, her personality wasn’t the greatest. In fact, it was as bad as it could get. She ditched work at every opportunity, tried to shirk responsibility, and went from begging for mercy to poisoning you in the span of a heartbeat.

“The Shittiest Rabbit to Have Ever Lived,” “The Incarnation of Sloth,” “The Queen of Slacking Off,” “Master of Pissing People Off”... Those were all titles that people had given her. But despite her grumbling, she always came through for her comrades in the end, and she always accomplished the missions assigned to her, which was why she was one of the republic’s trump cards.

The goal this time around was to smuggle Laus to safety, and no one was more suited to that task than her. Lyutillis had lent Sui to the Liberators for this mission as a mark of friendship and solidarity, but Sui hadn’t been so keen on doing the job.

“Nooooooooo, I want to relax at home! I already did so much work during the war! I’ve decided I’m never working again! You can’t make me go outside! This is employee abuse!”

When Lyutillis and Parsha thought back to how she’d reacted upon receiving her mission, they began to worry Sui wouldn’t pull through. In fact, they were worried the Liberators might send them complaints about Sui.

Seeing their faces go pale, Naiz awkwardly looked away. The truth was, their fears were right on the mark. Sui would be Sui, no matter where she went.

“If anything, I think she’s gotten worse than before.”

“Hm? What do you mean, Nacchan-san?”

“Well, at first she was exactly how you’d expect. Slacking off and staying home and all that. But now she’s using mission funds to eat at fancy restaurants, buy expensive clothes, and just live it up in the big city.”

“What?!”

Lyutillis and Parsha covered their faces, their ears drooping. Sui really had grown worse.

Naiz looked off into the distance, thinking about all the reports he’d received.

“It may have been a mistake to ask the support team to help her out, since now she knows how they live...”

The members of the support team didn’t directly participate in missions, they simply lived their lives normally while gathering information. But the part that Sui had latched onto was the fact that the main branch sent them an allowance to cover their expenses.

“Your Majesty...what if she tries to change jobs?”

“She might not ever return...”

The republic’s queen and prime minister both gazed off into the distance, their eyes glazed over. Oscar couldn’t help but give them both a sympathetic look.

At any rate, the point was that Naiz had spent the past month or so running around, making sure they were ready to receive Laus at any time.

Parsha pulled herself together and asked Naiz, “The Templar Knights returned to the capital twenty days ago, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Then if something’s happened, word of it would have reached us by now.”

However, there was still no word on Laus’s whereabouts.

The theocracy was half a continent away from the republic, but Tim Rocket’s enhanced messenger birds were exceptionally fast. Lyutillis had used her power to make sure they wouldn’t get lost in the forest’s fog, and there was a dedicated roost for them to perch on that was staffed at all times.

If Laus had made his move within a few days of returning to the capital, the message should have reached them by now. That meant that he was waiting, or he was in a position where he couldn’t make a move. Or, in the worst case—

“Looks like we’ve gotta get involved,” Vandre said, looking down at Miledi.

Though her soul seemed damaged in some way, it appeared her abilities were mostly intact.

Miledi nodded firmly, and said, “Information...needs to be...organized first.”

It seemed she was alert enough to give orders as well. Clearly, the damage done by having your soul overwritten by another was far greater than the damage done by overtaxing your magical strength. Regardless, Miledi had given the Liberators an order.

Oscar smiled briefly, then immediately switched to serious mode and said, “In that case, it’s time for a meeting. We need to set a concrete course of action. Naiz.”

“Do you want me to get Badd and the others?”

“Got it in one. Mind heading over to Angriff for us? I bet everyone will want to come when they hear Miledi’s woken up again, but...”

“We can’t leave the base empty. I’ll just grab Marshal and Mikaela as well, then.”

“Sorry you’re saddled with saying no to everyone,” Oscar stated in a joking tone, to which Naiz just shrugged.

“Lyu, get your generals together. Also, let everyone know Miledi’s current condition.”

“You’re not going to try to hide it?”

“You think that’s possible?”

Lyutillis smiled at that. Everyone in Haltina knew how energetic Miledi normally was. No one would possibly believe them if they said, “Miledi’s awake, and she’s quieter than usual, but there’s not actually anything wrong with her.” Of that, Oscar was certain.

“It’d be worse if rumors and uncertainty spread, so let’s just be honest.”

Besides, the truth wasn’t that bad. The savior of the country had recovered, though not fully. Fortunately, the problem wasn’t serious, and they knew how to fix it. When she thought about it that way, Lyutillis realized Oscar was right.

“Parsha, please start setting the groundwork for the meeting.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty.”

“Also...”

Lyutillis looked over at Miledi, who was still in her pajamas and had her hair down.

“We need to make our leader look more presentable.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“Actually, why not get her something different from usual? She’s more docile, so now’s the chance to dress her up in something more ladylike.”

This was a rare side of Miledi that Meiru knew she’d probably never see again, so she wanted to enjoy it as much as possible. Lyutillis and Parsha agreed immediately, also interested in seeing Miledi in different clothes.

The three of them chatted excitedly about what to dress Miledi up in. While they were debating, Miledi simply cocked her head to one side and watched on impassively.

Sighing, Vandre turned to Naiz and said, “The moment they cheer up, they start treating our leader like a toy.”

“Yeah, women are really scary.”

“I’m starting to pity you, Naiz.”

These days, Naiz looked at the letters Susha and Yunfa sent him like they were bombs.

Neither Vandre nor Naiz had the courage necessary to jump in and calm the unruly girls down, so they turned to the last remaining member of their party.

“Hey, four-eyes, hurry up and stop them before—”

“What about a maid uniform?!” Oscar shouted, adjusting his glasses in excitement.

Meiru and the others twitched, silently turning back to Oscar. His glasses were once again hiding his eyes thanks to some trick of the light.

“What about a maid uniform?!” he repeated.

“Th-This guy is way too true to his own desires,” Vandre muttered, shivering a little. Meiru and the other girls looked disgusted by Oscar as well. However, Oscar knew this was his only chance to make his leader dress up in his favorite, a maid uniform. Indeed, he was already holding one that he’d pulled out of his Treasure Trove.

As a true maid uniform aficionado, he’d meticulously crafted a custom one for Miledi. It was an orthodox dark blue with a long skirt and a frilly white apron. However, he’d made the sleeves short and left the shoulders bare as a nod to the kinds of clothes Miledi usually wore. Naturally, the outfit came with a headdress, ribbon, and garter belt. Everything was made with loving detail.

Oscar thrust his maid uniform forward with such fervor that it felt like he was heading into a battle to the death. The man was a maid lover to the core.

“Oscar-kun, you’re creeping even me out.”

“Perhaps I should use my authority as queen to protect Miledi-tan...”

“Your Majesty, shall I call the guard?”

“Sorry, Oscar, but I can’t defend you here.”

Even Naiz, his supposed ally, had turned on him. And the prime minister thought he was a total pervert. Worst of all, though, was Corrin’s reaction.

“Onii-chan...”

“Huh?! Wait, it’s not what you think, Corrin!”

Corrin’s expression was stiff and she was slowly backing away from Oscar toward Meiru, who then stood protectively in front of Corrin, keeping her safe from Oscar’s perversions.

His love for maid uniforms was so terrifying that not even Corrin could accept it. But seeing his beloved little sister get creeped out by him did at least bring Oscar back to his senses.

Just then, however, someone snatched the maid uniform Oscar had been about to put away.

“Huh? Miledi?”

Indeed, the someone in question was Miledi. Normally, whenever Oscar went into maid mania mode, Miledi was creeped out by him, but right now she was just staring at him. Her eyes were still dull, but there was no hint of rejection in them. In fact—

“I’ll wear it.”

Everyone stared at her in awe upon hearing that.

“M-M-M-Miledi-chan, what’s wrong?! Didn’t you say before that you were scared of how Oscar-kun looked when you were wearing a maid uniform, so you’d never do it again?!” Meiru exclaimed, voicing everyone’s thoughts. However, Miledi ignored her and turned back to Oscar.

“Will it make you happy?” she asked, staring into his soul.

“I-I mean, yeah, but...”

“Mmm. Then I’ll wear it.”

“I’m sorry, Miledi! I didn’t mean to take advantage of you! You don’t need to wear it!”

Her honesty was too much for Oscar to bear. Insults he could take, but her pure reaction tugged at his conscience. And so, he reached out to take the maid uniform back.

“No,” Miledi stated firmly, dodging away from Oscar’s hands. This was the opposite of how this exchange was supposed to go.

“Wh-What’s wrong, Miledi? Don’t you hate wearing those clothes?” Oscar asked, confused by the sudden reversal in Miledi’s actions.

“I don’t hate them.”

“Huh? But...”

“I was just embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed about what?”

“You praise me too much when I’m wearing this, O-kun.”

“Oh,” Naiz and Meiru muttered simultaneously.

In retrospect, they remembered that Oscar had praised Miledi a ton when she’d donned a maid uniform to sneak into Andika’s casino. He’d gone on and on about how cute and great and wonderful she was. At first Miledi had basked in the praise, but eventually it had gotten to the point where it looked like she was feeling uncomfortable. However, now Naiz and Meiru realized that had just been her way of covering up her embarrassment.

“You’re such a pure, innocent maiden, Miledi-tan!”

“You’re so cute, Miledi-onee-san.”

Lyutillis and Corrin squealed at how adorable Miledi was acting. It was touching that Miledi had actually enjoyed the praise Oscar had heaped onto her.

Naiz, who’d been there at the time, and Vandre, who was used to how Miledi normally acted, were in disbelief.

“There’s no way...” they both muttered.

“Yeah, that’s a shocker...” Meiru said, also slack-jawed.

No matter how hard Miledi tried to hide her true feelings, Meiru was able to see through her. This was no exception, but Miledi had never once even hinted that she had enjoyed Oscar’s praise. In other words, she’d tried to hide that part of her more than everything else.

To think the truth would come out here... Meiru thought to herself. And though Oscar was the one most surprised by this sudden revelation, Miledi wasn’t done yet.

“I’m happy when you’re happy, O-kun, so...”

“C-C-C-C-C-C-Calm down, Miledi!”

No one made the obvious comeback, “You’re the one who needs to calm down.”

Miledi’s tone was flat, her eyes were dull, and there was no emotion in her voice. However, there was a slight blush on her cheeks...and she looked somewhat embarrassed.

“I’ll do anything for you.”

“~~~~~~”

Oscar covered his face with his hands, blushing to the tips of his ears. He bent backward so far that his head touched the ground and he made an impromptu bridge. Vandre stared down at him coldly.

“That’s a critical hit for sure.”

Lyutillis excitedly ran over to Oscar and asked, “O-chan-san! O-chan-san! How do you feel right now?! Come on, tell me!”

Oscar rolled to one corner of the room, seemingly not hearing anything his friends were saying. He then unsteadily rose to his feet and started banging his head against the wall.

“This is Miledi we’re talking about. This is Miledi we’re talking about. This is Miledi we’re talking about,” he repeated in a hollow voice each time his head hit the wall. Corrin hugged him from behind, trying to get him to stop, but Oscar was too far gone now.

“What the heck is going on here?” Naiz asked, turning to Miledi.

Meiru, who was trying to impress on Miledi that girls couldn’t just say that to guys, turned back to Naiz and said in an awkward voice, “Remember how Dylan-kun and Katy-chan usually act?”

“What about it?”

“I mean, Katy-chan was all over Oscar-kun and Dylan-kun kept staring at everyone’s boobs.”

“Oh...” Naiz nodded as a sense of understanding washed over him. He then looked away awkwardly.

On the other hand, Vandre shrugged his shoulders and said, “The people who had their souls damaged by the church’s stupid plan all followed their instincts and had no inhibitions on their desires.”

Indeed, back when Katy had been her regular self, she’d been too embarrassed to openly show affection for Oscar.

However, after the incident, she’d started hugging Oscar every chance she got. Whenever Corrin tried to drag Katy away, she’d slap at her hands and stick even closer to Oscar. Likewise, Katy used to power through her dislike of beans and eat them, but these days, no matter how Corrin cooked them, she wouldn’t touch them.

Dylan was no different. Before, he’d been a model student, doing his best to follow his beloved big brother Oscar’s creed of “Be a gentleman at all times, and take everything you do seriously.” He’d tried to be a good role model for his younger siblings, so he held himself to a high standard. But now all he cared about was ogling girls, despite Ruth’s best efforts to make him stop. He was particularly obsessed with Meiru’s massive mammaries. Whenever Meiru came over, he’d just stare for hours. He’d gone from a gentleman to a pervert.

The point was that Miledi was in a similar state as Dylan and Katy, which meant that she made no attempt to hide her desires. She simply did as her heart dictated.

“She’s going to be real embarrassed when she returns to her usual self,” Meiru said with a smile.

“Well, this was bound to happen sooner or later anyway,” Naiz replied.

“Hmph, this is better than watching them arguing incessantly to hide their true feelings. In a way, it’s a good thing,” Vandre said, and the three of them exchanged glances and chuckled.

“Well, as long as Miledi-chan’s happy, I don’t mind,” Meiru said in a gentle voice, looking down at Oscar all the while.

“Hm?” Oscar muttered. Blood was dripping from his forehead...and his eyes were glazed over, possibly from a concussion. Corrin hurriedly dabbed at the blood with a handkerchief.

Meiru walked over and hugged Miledi, who looked genuinely concerned about Oscar.

“Oscar, I always hated you. Go die, you fuck,” Badd said the moment he walked into the room.

“D-Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh, Badd?”

“Normally, the penalty for being a popular guy is beheading, but I’m not gonna let you die that easily.”

“You’re starting to scare me, so please stop.”

Badd was second-in-command of the Liberators, but whenever he saw happy couples, he was overcome by the desire to reap them with his scythe. However, despite his personality problems, the forty-year-old was quite competent. But when he’d learned his fellow old bachelor, Marshal, was in a relationship with Mikaela, he’d nearly fallen into the darkness for good, so Oscar was afraid of tipping him over the edge.

He already had his mana-eating scythe, Egxess, out and ready, and it seemed to be exuding a dark aura.

“You know, I never wanted to leave the republic in the first place. Can you guess why?”

“Well, yeah...” Oscar mumbled and shot a sidelong glance at Lyutillis, who was standing a short distance away.

Badd, the hopeless bachelor, had fallen for her of all people. Unfortunately, all his attempts at flirtation had failed. In fact, he didn’t even know that she was a raging masochist at heart. The two of them couldn’t really be said to be close.

Part of the reason Badd was still single was because of how reserved he was when it came to making moves. But that wasn’t the real problem. He hated desk work and, despite being the Liberators’ second-in-command, he often went missing to go on adventures. When the others had told him to go serve as temporary chief of the Angriff branch, he’d thrown a fit because he hadn’t wanted to be separated from Lyutillis. His whining had been so pathetic that even Lyutillis hadn’t been able to look at him.

Marshal had pointed out it was that bad habit of his that made women dislike him. Had they not dragged Badd away by force, he probably would have still been squatting in the tree’s throne room. And now, that very same immature old man was muttering curses under his breath while glaring at Oscar.

“You know, I did my best. In fact, I’m still doing my best. Even after that traitor Marshal started banging a girl twenty years younger than him, I didn’t execute him. When our esteemed leader fell into a coma, I did all the work I really didn’t want to do...and I even held back from going off on another adventure.”

“Come on, it couldn’t have been that bad...” Oscar said. Marshal and Mikaela had stiffened up in fear upon hearing Badd mention their name, and he swiveled to look at them. Neither of them met his gaze.

“And yet...” Badd started loading Egxess with mana as he spoke. The beastmen generals who were standing around Miledi—Sim, Valf, Nirke, and Craid—all looked away, trying to pretend they weren’t involved.

“Oscar, you fuck. Pretending like you’re some kinda genius, refined gentleman when you’re just a poser!”

“D-Do you really need to insult me that hard?! Calm down, Badd!”

Badd advanced on Oscar, looking like a vengeful avatar of jealousy, and Oscar turned to the others to request aid.

“All right, Miledi-chan, let’s get this meeting started.”

“Good boys and girls don’t get involved with bad people.”

“Leave that idiot and that pervert alone. Talking to them is a waste of time.”

“I’ll bury your bones for you, Oscar.”

Sadly, Oscar’s comrades appeared more than ready to abandon him. Though honestly, that was probably for the best.

Surely he’ll calm down if I let him vent some stress. Right? Right?

But there was one problem with that plan.

“O-kun...”

“Oh, shit! Not now, Miledi-chan!”

And that was that Miledi was constantly drawn to Oscar. She easily slipped past the encirclement Lyutillis’s generals had made around her, dodged out of Meiru’s reach, and headed to Oscar.

Even though she was still recovering from the damage sustained due to the magic she’d expended in the apostle fight, her movements were impeccable.

Oscar tried to signal Miledi with his eyes, desperately wishing to tell her that she shouldn’t come over right now, but she didn’t stop. She was determined to protect Oscar, so she hugged him tightly when she reached him.

Naturally, both Oscar and Badd froze for a few seconds.

“Y-Y-Y-Y-You asshole, Oscaaaaaar! How dare you flaunt your happiness!”

“This is all a misunderstanding!”

“Oh really? That’s the best excuse you’ve got? It’s a misunderstanding?!”

Fair enough, Oscar thought, resigning himself to his fate. He couldn’t really claim it was a misunderstanding when Miledi was wearing his favorite maid uniform.

Despite Meiru and the other girls’ best efforts, Miledi had been determined to wear the maid uniform Oscar had selected for her.

Still, even they had to admit it was a cute getup. It probably helped that she’d done her hair up in twintails, which went well with the hairband. The scrunchies she’d used to do up her hair were rather adorable as well. Though her normal outfit also left her shoulders exposed, they looked far more erotic now that she wasn’t annoying the shit out of everyone.

It was clear Oscar knew how to best draw out all of Miledi’s charm, and he’d used that power to design the ultimate maid uniform. And the fact that Miledi was wearing it was the greatest statement of her love for Oscar that there could be. Badd could feel the splinters being driven deeper into his heart.

“O-kun belongs to me,” Miledi muttered, delivering the final blow.

“Agh!”

Oscar and Badd stiffened up again, but for different reasons this time.

“If you bully him, I won’t show any mercy...” Miledi stated in a menacing tone, hugging Oscar harder.

“M-Miledi, I’ll be fine, so can you let go? Everyone’s watching us, you know?”

“Don’t wanna.”

Everything Miledi did simply added fuel to the fire. Meiru and the others looked up in resignation, while Badd finally passed the tipping point.

“It’s time to pay for your crimes, you damn normies! Egxesssssssssssss!”

It took the combined efforts of Naiz, Vandre, Sim, and the other beastmen generals to calm down the incarnation of jealousy that Badd had transformed into.

Oddly enough, Badd fought even harder than he had during the war. Jealousy fueled his blade, making his cuts sharper, and letting him absorb mana with Egxess more efficiently than ever. His impressive display proved to the spectators why he was the Liberators’ second-in-command, as well as why the church feared him so. But while his display of strength was awe-inspiring, his ugly jealousy ruined any chance he might have had with Lyutillis.

Regardless, Badd was eventually restrained...and the meeting finally began. Lyutillis sat at the head of the wooden table, and to her left were the most important members of the republic, Prime Minister Parsha Mill, the bearman general, Sim Gato, the werewolf commander of the commando unit, Valf Rugal, the harpy general of the aerial divisions, Nirke Zouk, and the captain of the royal guard, Craid Ulks.

To Lyutillis’s right were Miledi, Oscar, Meiru, Naiz, Vandre, Badd, Marshal, and Mikaela, in that order. Oh, and Corrin was sitting in a tiny chair in between Vandre and Badd as well. She seemed uncertain about whether or not she really should be here, but everyone else wanted her to stick around.

Only Corrin could keep Badd’s jealousy in check without violence. After all, even a shameless man like Badd couldn’t be too harsh on a little girl.

Indeed, though he had his arms folded and appeared to be in a bad mood, whenever he turned to Corrin and she smiled at him, he felt a little happier. In many ways, Corrin was the most important member of the Liberators.

“And thus concludes the report on our country’s current situation. Are there any questions?” Parsha, who was serving as the meeting’s chairperson, asked.

Everyone, including Miledi, had already been apprised of the situation in the republic as well as the current state of the great tree, so no one had any questions. They all nodded, allowing Parsha to move on to the next topic.

“We’ll now discuss the current state of our neighboring nations, starting with the Odion Federation. Badd-dono?”

“Sure, sure. So far they aren’t doing much. Nothing’s going on in Agris, and it’s the capital of the federation. Far as we can tell, they’re afraid we’ll hit them with a counterattack.”

All the human nations were trembling in fear. The members of the church stationed in Agris were acting as though they’d been given a death sentence.

“People have been fleeing westward. The top brass have been trying to stop the exodus, but they’re not making any progress.”

“Have they elected a new leader?” Sim asked, a frown on his face.

“Not yet. Normally, their king is decided by a mock battle that’s held once every five years, but they don’t have the manpower to hold one of those...and no one wants to step forward and take charge right now.”

The federation had suffered a crushing defeat. Anyone who became its leader now would be getting the short end of the stick.

“I don’t blame them. Detref didn’t do a single thing wrong and look at what they did to him.”

“Yeah...”

As punishment for his failures, Detref had been executed. Even though he’d accepted every unreasonable request the church threw at him and had done his best to serve his people, the Templar Knights had lopped his head off before returning to the theocracy.

They’d tried to push the responsibility of their failure onto the federation it seemed. Of course, that didn’t change the truth, but they had been foolish enough to think that executing Detref would help preserve their own reputation. It hadn’t, though, and in retrospect, it just looked like they’d vented their anger on the wrong target.

“What a waste,” Sim growled, a pained look in his eyes.

Detref had been a true warrior. When the church had ordered him to send his men on a suicide charge, it had pained his conscience. He’d cursed his own inability to protect his men, and had atoned the only way he knew how; by joining them on their charge.

When Sim had fought him on the battlefield, he’d felt a kinship that had transcended race. The two of them had been proud warriors, fighting with their fists. Sim had even begun to hope that the revolution Miledi spoke of might really come, and there would be a time where he could share a drink with Detref instead of crossing swords.

Marshal and Mikaela both felt bad for him, but they continued on with the report where Badd had left off.

“Our spies in Agris Castle tell us that a council made up of the other nations’ leaders is deciding things for the federation for now.”

“Also, from what we can tell, their army’s a complete mess. They lost too many men, and the soldiers who survived have had their morale crushed.”

“So essentially, we really don’t need to worry about the federation, at least for the time being.”

Even if the theocracy ordered the federation to attack again, they didn’t have the resources to carry out those orders. Badd was certain of that.

Parsha nodded and replied, “What about the Grandort Empire? How are things there, Naiz-dono?”

“They’re still trying to reorganize too.”

“Well, Van and I did decimate their entire air force.”

“Naiz blocked their main cannon so easily too.”

The nation’s pride was in tatters. Not only that, but the invincible theocracy had lost, so the empire was in an uproar about their alliance with them.

They were so shaken that they still hadn’t recovered even after a month.

“Plus, we sabotaged a bunch of their infrastructure when their airships left for the battlefield. Right now, they’re busy trying to track down what happened and who did it.”

Shushu, Tony, Abe, Margaretta, the other members of the Schnee clan, and Howzer Almeda had been responsible for the sabotage, though, and they wouldn’t be discovered easily.

“Yeah, they need to at least put some effort into the search...or they’ll lose face. In fact, the investigation’s gotten so thorough that Howzer and the others have had to vacate the branch office.”

“Are Margaretta and the others okay, Naiz?”

“They’re fine. They’re working on diversion tactics and guerrilla warfare right now.”

“Did you say guerrilla warfare?”

“Yeah, they’re being pretty aggressive about it too. Apparently, that’s how they’re venting stress.”

“Hang on a second. What do you mean, venting stress? What happened to them?” Vandre asked. He cared deeply about his clansmen, so he leaned forward as he spoke, a look of worry on his face.

But Naiz just flashed him a gentle smile and said, “Apparently, they’re frustrated that they didn’t get to fight by your side.”

“O-Oh.”

Apparently, Margaretta had just wanted to be by her beloved Vandre’s side. Of course, she knew sabotaging the empire was an important job, but she’d wanted to be with him during the war at least. And she wasn’t alone on that front. The rest of the Schnee clan had wanted the same thing.

Incidentally, Margaretta and the others had become such a terror that mothers in the empire had taken to telling their kids, “If you’re not good, monster-riding raiders wearing white will come and kidnap youuu.”

It was quite something.

“Van...don’t tell me even you’ve betrayed me...”

“Calm down, Uncle Badd!”

“Ngh.”

Badd glanced back at the young girl scolding him, and his jealousy faded away. No one else even deigned to look at him.

“But yeah, they’ve become hardcore terrorists now. Ha ha!”

“I almost pity the empire.”

Valf and Nirke added, their expressions somewhat stiff.

At any rate, the empire wasn’t in a position to launch another attack on the republic anytime soon.

“Does it look like any of the human nations are forging another coalition?”

The theocracy’s defeat had sent shock waves throughout the continent. For better or worse, the impact had been massive. It wouldn’t be surprising if some nations had started to doubt the absolute supremacy of the theocracy. Some might have even considered distancing themselves from it. Of course, it was also possible that some nations were starting to think they could be the new central pillar of humanity.

Lyutillis was hopeful more nations would turn against the theocracy, but she also didn’t want a war to break out over it.

Badd told everyone the information he’d received from the Liberators’ main branch.

“The Sharod Federation and Igdol Empire haven’t made any moves. It’s still too early for them to try anything.”

Sharod was on the other side of the continent, while Igdol was far to the south. Chances were that news of the war ending was only reaching them now.

“Uldia’s stopped providing supplies to the theocracy, though. And Velka and Entris are staying neutral for now as well. From the looks of it, most other nations are just waiting to see the theocracy’s next move.”

“I see. So everyone’s still in shock for now, then,” Lyutillis said, summarizing the situation.

Indeed, the republic’s victory had come as a complete shock to the rest of the world.

“But the theocracy’s been quiet too, and we haven’t heard back from Laus Barn either,” Parsha said, eliciting nods out of Badd and Naiz.

“It’s the country that sits in the lap of God, and they have bishops in every single village, no matter how small. The people’s faith in Ehit there is far greater than it is anywhere else. They’re not shaken at all.”

“They’re pretending it’s a triumphant return for the knights back in the theocracy.”

“I can’t believe anyone’s buying that,” Meiru said, looking amazed.

“Well, as far as the citizens are concerned, it was some border skirmish half a continent away. So long as the bishops are telling them it was a win for the church, the people will lap it up,” Oscar explained with a wan smile.

“But,” he added, “they probably weren’t expecting to lose an apostle.”

God’s Apostle was an ironclad symbol of Ehit’s unquestionable might. She was quite literally supposed to be the strongest being in existence, yet Miledi had taken her down head-on. It must have been a blow to the church.

Badd chuckled and said, “Yeah, I guess since they don’t know what state Miledi’s in, they’re scared of what she might do. If they come back half-cocked, they’ll just get their asses handed to them again.”

“Yep, the most the knights can do is pretend like they won and hide in their capital. Plus, I’m sure the soldiers who saw what happened on the battlefield will be gossiping about it everywhere.”

“Sooner or later, people are going to start noticing Miledi-chan, which’ll get them to start doubting the theocracy’s supremacy.”

“Soon the common people will learn about the Liberators and their ideals.”

Everyone turned to Miledi. They’d been apprised of her situation, but they still couldn’t believe how quiet she was. Yet even when everyone was looking at her, her vacant stare was fixed on only one person. Namely Oscar, who was sitting next to her.

His gaze met hers and he asked, “Wh-What’s up, Miledi?”

“Nothing...”

Everyone knew that Miledi had been staring at Oscar throughout the entire meeting, including him. He awkwardly adjusted his glasses while everyone else smiled at how innocent his reaction was.

“Tch...”

“Stop that, Uncle Badd.”

“Ugh... M-My bad. Please stop staring at me like that, Corrin; I really am sorry.”

Oscar ignored Badd and Corrin’s exchange, thinking hard about how to make this weirdly flirty atmosphere disappear.

“A-Anyway, Naiz! How’s the Dark Gate that I made for you?!”

“I can hear your voice shaking, Oscar.”

“Come on, tell me!”

Naiz found Oscar’s embarrassment entertaining, so he wanted to milk his reactions some more. But Oscar had brought up an important point, and he knew they couldn’t drag the meeting on forever, so he went back into serious mode.

“Its range is limited to about fifty kilometers, but it’s far more mana-efficient than my own teleports. Even people with normal mana pools should be able to use it.”

“I see... It’s ostensibly a success, then. Good. But I’d like to increase its range more if I can.”

“You could always make more and have numbers shore up the difference.”

Sim, Valf, and Craid watched in awe as Oscar and Naiz discussed his newest artifact.

“You guys are redefining intercontinental travel and you’re so casual about it!”

“If you can make enough of these things to outfit an entire army, then... Damn, an army that can appear out of nowhere is the most terrifying thing I can imagine.”

“Yes, but don’t forget that our enemies can use them too if they get their hands on them. This could easily become a double-edged sword.”

Dark Gate was a new artifact that allowed anyone to use teleportation magic.

It looked like a black, palm-sized cube. The crystal that made up the cube was translucent, and you could see the three-dimensional magic circle inside it when sunlight filtered through.

It came with a paired artifact, a black key that Oscar had aptly named Dark Key. By activating the key, the user would be teleported to wherever the Dark Gate was, so long as it was within a fifty-kilometer radius.

“I’ve put the fifty you gave me in as inconspicuous locations as possible. There’s twenty between here and the Liberators’ main branch, seven between there and Entris, three between there and Esperado, and ten leading from the theocracy to Uldia’s borders. The remaining ten are scattered along the route to the empire.”

“You didn’t concentrate them all on a single path? I feel like it’d be better to have one express route than multiple semi-express ones,” Vandre stated. However, Oscar simply shook his head in response.

“That’s too much of a security risk. Craid’s right. Our enemies may find them and start using them, in which case having them scattered is better.”

Oscar wanted to help Laus in his escape as much as he could, which was why he’d made this. But in order to get the artifact to him, Naiz and the others needed to infiltrate the theocracy before the Templar Knights returned.

Oscar had been forced to make this makeshift artifact on a heavy time crunch and hand it over to Naiz and Sui before they went undercover. He’d prioritized speed to help Laus escape, but that meant it wasn’t perfectly secure and could be used against them by their enemies. As soon as Laus rendezvoused with the Liberators, Oscar was planning on recovering all the Dark Gates and upgrading them. Fortunately, the area encompassed by the Pale Forest was safe at least, especially with Uroboros and his friends keeping an eye on things, and he’d created a shortcut between here and Sainttown that cut travel time down by half.

“Hmph, then hurry up and upgrade them, you shitty four-eyes.”

“I’m trying, you muffler freak.”

There wasn’t much energy in Oscar’s retort. He was painfully aware of how lacking his strength was. But now that Corrin had scolded him, he was at least doing his best not to kill the mood.

Just then, someone patted Oscar’s arm. It was Miledi. Unsurprisingly, she’d continued staring at Oscar as the meeting progressed. Though her expression was blank, it looked almost like she was saying “There’s no need to rush, you’ll be fine.” The gesture was heartening, but also rather embarrassing.

Oscar could tell everyone was staring at them again.

Just when I’d managed to change the topic too.

He couldn’t handle everyone’s knowing smiles.

“Thanks, Miledi. I’ll be fine.”

He tried to wrench Miledi’s hand off his arm, but the moment he grabbed it, she gave it an affectionate squeeze. Oscar squealed in surprise, but everyone ignored him.

“All right, that’s enough debriefing. Miledi-tan?”

Lyutillis blushed a little as she looked over at Miledi, but she did finally succeed in getting her to turn away from Oscar.

“Mmm...”

“All that’s left is to decide our next course of action. Badd-dono?”

Badd was also getting his arm patted by a girl, but he cleared his throat and put his petty jealousy behind him for now. He was getting tired of being consoled by a little girl, so focusing on work was one way of keeping his jealousy at bay.

“For now, all we’ve been doing is telling all our branch offices how the war went and warning them to be prepared,” he said with a shrug. However, his tone made it clear he was talking business.

“Our next plan is for our leader to decide.”

He turned to Miledi, who gave him a little nod. She cast her gaze over everyone before saying, “We have to get him.”

It was clear to everyone who she meant by “him.” The real work could only begin after all of her comrades had been gathered. Naturally, no one objected. However—

“We’re all going to save Laus.”

“Absolutely not, Miledi.”

“Huh?!” Miledi turned to Oscar, looking quite shocked.

It appeared he disagreed about how to rescue him.

“Right now, you need to stay somewhere safe. You can’t convince me otherwise.”

He had a point.

Of course, Lyutillis and Vandre made some jokes like, “Oh my, did you hear that, Onee-sama? O-chan-san likes to keep his girlfriend locked up!” and “Hah, I always knew you were a sadistic freak, four-eyes. Kinda creepy, honestly.” But ultimately, everyone knew Oscar was speaking sense.

Oscar adjusted his glasses, ignoring the jibes. Though it was obvious from how his hand was trembling that he was just holding back his anger.

“And at the very least, Meiru needs to stay back with you. If Lyu agrees to stay in the forest as well, it’ll be as safe as it gets. I’m sorry, but you can’t come with us.”

“But...”

“Don’t worry. Naiz, Van, and I will rescue him for sure.”

The hurt in Miledi’s eyes was visible, and she said flatly, “No...”

“Miledi.”

“Don’t wanna.”

No one else offered a helping hand, so Oscar lowered his voice and said, “Listen, Miledi, right now... Well, to be blunt, right now you’d just be a burden.”

“Ugh...”

“If you went to save Laus and got into a fight, we’d have to focus on protecting you instead. Besides, who knows what’ll happen to you if you try using your stronger spells in your current state.”

“Uuu...”

“There’s absolutely no way we can let you fight right now, which means you’re not going anywhere near the theocracy. Please try to understand.”

Oscar was making logical points, ones that couldn’t be argued against, so Miledi had only one recourse.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaah! Hic...”

“Wha—?! Hey, Miledi?! Come on, please don’t cry!”

Since she had no way to refute his words, Miledi could only convey her feelings through tears. Her pursed lips made it clear just how unhappy she was with this arrangement.

Oscar’s angle of, “I’m being stern because I care about you,” collapsed in an instant in the face of her crying. He glanced around, panicking. He then got to his feet and waffled over whether or not he should hug her.

“You made her cry! You made her cry! Evil four-eyes!” Meiru and Lyutillis sang in unison.

“Hey, quiet you two!”

“Onii-chan...” Corrin muttered, shooting an accusatory look at Oscar.

“Corrin, this isn’t what it looks like! I just misworded things, that’s all!”

Parsha and the others were surprised by Miledi’s crying as well, but they, too, were on her side.

“Man, it’s been ages since I last saw Miledi cry,” Marshal said, looking like he was enjoying the scene.

“O-Oh no, is something wrong with me, Marshal-san? I’m reminded of how Miledi used to be back when she was a kid, and now I’m thinking she looks kind of cute when she’s crying.”

“Oh yeah. She let her emotions show a lot more back when she first joined up.”

Miledi had tried her best to emulate Belta’s annoying nature, but her core personality was still stronger back then. When people teased her about it, she’d get so embarrassed that she’d cry sometimes. But that had only been when she was ten. By the time she hit eleven, her cute side had all but disappeared.

However, now it was back...and Marshal and Mikaela were extremely moved.

“Van, Naiz! Help me out here!” Oscar tearfully turned to his friends and begged for assistance, causing Vandre to sigh in exasperation.

“Look, Miledi. Just shut up and let us protect you this time.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been protecting all these other guys ever since you joined the Liberators, right? And you knew that wouldn’t be enough, which was why you went looking for people like us who could stand shoulder to shoulder with you.”

“...”

“Well, you’ve got us now. We can protect you when you’re not doing so hot, like right now.”

Miledi grabbed the hem of her skirt and looked down. She was acting like a kid who’d just been scolded, which was basically what had happened.

With a crafty smile, Naiz added, “Don’t worry, Van and I will be sure to bring Laus back.”

“Hm? Naiz, I’m coming—”

“Don’t worry, we’ll leave Oscar here with you.”

“Hey, wait, Naiz?! What are you saying? This is the theocracy we’re talking about here. The two of you won’t be enough!”

“Shut up, shitty four-eyes. With how badly you’ve been doing during our sparring matches, we’re better off without you anyway. At least you’ll be doing something useful by acting as our beloved leader’s emotional support.”

“Van...” Oscar mumbled. He wasn’t so dense that he didn’t realize Vandre was saying this for his own good. Besides, it wasn’t as if Vandre and Naiz would be completely alone.

They had the help of the Liberator branch in the theocracy, as well as Sui, who could become the republic’s strongest soldier...under certain conditions. Moreover, Vandre’s ability to transform into a dragon and Naiz’s spatial magic meant they were the two most mobile members of the Liberators.

Still, I’m the most adaptable one among us, and they might need me if they run into unforeseen complications... But before Oscar could pursue that line of thought any further, he noticed Miledi tugging his sleeve.

“Don’t leave me behind...”

“Hnnnnnngh!”

She was looking up at him with teary eyes...and Oscar couldn’t withstand the destructive power of her gaze. He adjusted his glasses more roughly than usual, digging the bridge of them into his nose.

“Fine, fine. I’ll stay back too.”

“You’ll stay with me?”

“Yes, I will! So please stop acting so, umm, seductive!”

Miledi didn’t seem to really understand what Oscar was saying, but she did get that he wasn’t going to leave her behind. Upon hearing that, a wave of relief washed over her.

“Thank goodness,” she said with a smile.

“Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngh!” Oscar groaned loudly. He’d suffered a critical hit for the umpteenth time today.

Marshal exclaimed, “Holy shit, she’s even more powerful than little Miledi was.”

Mikaela added, “Yeah, I wish I could show this cute Miledi to everyone back home!”

Badd glared at Oscar, but he couldn’t do anything as long as Corrin was staring at him. He resembled a chained dog.

Nirke was always flopped over the table, his wings beating weakly as he tried to recover from all the emotions he was feeling. He, as well as the rest of the republic’s harpies, had become huge fans of Miledi after seeing her beautiful duel in the sky against the apostle. Each flap of his wings smacked Valf in the face though, and he didn’t look quite as amused.

Meiru was using the glasses Oscar had made for her to take as many pictures as she could, while Lyutillis and Parsha were struggling to hold back smiles.

Amidst the chaos, Miledi wiped her eyes and said in a somewhat more dignified voice, “Okay, I’ll let myself be protected. But I’m heading over to the main headquarters.”

Barely conscious and blushing furiously again, Oscar asked, “Why? The forest is much safer.”

“Headquarters is safe too.”

“I guess that’s true, but...”

The church didn’t even know where the Liberators’ headquarters was, so it was definitely safe. However, they had a much bigger home-field advantage as long as Lyutillis was in the Pale Forest. Assuming another apostle didn’t show up, anyway.

Still, it seemed Miledi had a good reason for wanting to move.

“Headquarters is closer to Laus. If I go, then Meiru-nee will come too.”

Oh, I get it now.

Miledi wouldn’t rush into danger herself. She’d let her friends protect her, just as they’d requested. But she still wanted to be close, so that if anything did happen, Oscar and Meiru would be able to run over if necessary.

The Liberators’ headquarters was in Uldia, which was twice as close to the theocracy as Haltina.

“Miledi...”

Oscar looked into Miledi’s sky-blue eyes. Though the light was gone from them, he could still easily read the emotions they conveyed.

She’s not gonna back down no matter what I say, huh?

“He he, looks like you’ve lost, Oscar-kun.”

“Guess so.”

Frowning a little, Oscar got back into his seat.

Seeing that, Lyutillis said, “Parsha.”

“Your Majesty...you intend to go with them?”

“Yes. I promised to walk together with them. It’s only fitting that I see their main headquarters. Besides, I must protect Miledi. I may not be as strong outside the forest, but I’m sure my strength will still come in handy. Can I leave governing the republic to you?”

“Under normal circumstances, I would never allow the queen to leave her nation.”

Of course, the very fact that Parsha was saying that meant she was going to allow it this time. She knew that Lyutillis couldn’t be constrained by her duties. Not now, when a worldwide revolution was looming. After all, before she was a queen, she was an ancient magic user.

Parsha steeled her resolve and said, “Leave Haltina to me.”

It was her job to ensure that Lyutillis could walk her chosen path without regrets.

“Sim, Valf, Nirke, Craid. Can I count on you to protect our brethren?”

“As you wish.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“We shall protect your skies.”

Sim, Valf, and Nirke all gave her crisp salutes. However, Craid appeared more hesitant. As captain of the royal guard, protecting Lyutillis was his duty.

“Craid, I need you to protect Parsha. In my absence, she will be the one to rule this country. Do you understand?”

“I...do...”

“Heh heh, I appreciate your loyalty, Craid, but don’t worry. I’ll have Sui to protect me over there.”

“That’s exactly why I’m so worried.”

“Mmm, well, I’ll have my new comrades as well, so it’ll be fine.”

Craid took a deep breath, swallowing his misgivings, and bowed reverently to Lyutillis. He then turned to Naiz, the Liberator he was closest to, and said, “Naiz, please protect her.”

“Don’t worry, I will.”

The exchange was brief, but it was a mark of their friendship.

Lyutillis blushed a little. She found it endearing how the men around her all seemed to forge bonds while treating her like a fairy-tale heroine.

Of course, she knew Craid had no feelings for her and was merely loyal to a fault, but her ears still twitched a little. She turned around and noticed that Badd was glaring daggers at Craid and Naiz. Corrin slapped him on the cheek a few times, giving him a stern look, and he quieted back down. He was well and truly tamed now.

“Ahem! Now that everything is settled, I think it’s time we brought this meeting to a close. When will you depart?” Parsha asked.

They would need a lavish send-off, since the queen was leaving with the heroes who’d saved their nation. The republic’s citizens would all want to be there. Lyutillis shot Oscar a questioning glance.

“Hmm... I’d like to go as soon as possible, but I also want to return Corrin to the village before we go...”

“U-Umm,” Corrin mumbled as she tentatively raised her hand. She didn’t want to interrupt, but she did have a suggestion.

“If you let me borrow Van-onii-chan’s wyvern, I can go home by myself.”

“Absolutely not,” Vandre and Oscar said in unison.

Corrin shrunk back, scared by how forceful the two of them sounded. Vandre was starting to become as much of a siscon as Oscar. From the looks of it, he was starting to see her as his little sister as well. But even if he didn’t, it was unacceptable to send such a young girl on a long journey alone.

Marshal stepped forward and said, “In that case, how about I escort her back?”

“Hmm... Corrin’s been more helpful than I imagined. As the one who called her here, I should be the one to take responsibility for seeing her safely home, but...”

“Why not let her stay in the forest? As the queen, I’ll allow it.”

“Hell, you could let her stay in Angriff, even.”

“In fact, why don’t we just take her with us to the main headquarters?”

This time, Corrin raised her hand much more emphatically and interrupted the adults’ discussion.

“I need to go back home. There are people I need to look after!”

Oscar and the others nodded immediately, overwhelmed by Corrin’s confidence.

“Also, I won’t be of much help here...or anywhere else for that matter. I can do the most good by looking after the patients back home.”

The fact that she spoke with such confidence proved that she already had a lot of self-esteem.

“I’m part of the Liberators too, so I need to do what I can!”

She wasn’t a child who needed protection, but one of their full-fledged comrades.

“Hey, Oscar. Your sister’s amazing,” Badd said in awe. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Marshal had known Corrin for longer than Badd, and he puffed his chest out proudly like he was responsible for her growth.

“All right then, I’ll escort her home. Mind if I borrow one of your wyverns, Vandre?”

“Hmph, fine. Lyu, can you strengthen it for me?”

“Of course. I’ll make sure it can fly faster and longer.”

With that, everything was squared away and the party decided to depart tomorrow...or the day after at the very latest.

The meeting adjourned, but just before everyone left...there was a knock on the door.

“Enter. What is it?” Parsha asked, furrowing her brow. She had a feeling it was something bad...and she was half-right.

One of Lyutillis’s elven maids burst into the room, a messenger bird on her shoulder.

“Creme!” Oscar shouted, running over. Creme was the Isoniol eagle Tim had assigned to specifically send messages to Miledi and her party.

“He arrived just now,” the maid said, handing Oscar a letter that had an “urgent” stamp on it.

He quickly unfurled the letter and read through it. The first sentence was, “I’ve found info on Laus Barn.”

The message they’d all been waiting for had finally arrived. However, he hadn’t said he’d rescued Laus. Instead, the letter explained that Laus was on the run from the church’s heretic hunters.

“I’m sorry, Parsha-san, but it looks like we’re leaving immediately.”

Not long after Miledi had woken up, the situation grew dire. It almost seemed like fate.

Oscar nodded to his companions, who began moving all at once. Everyone had a feeling that this would be their biggest obstacle yet.