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Prologue: After the Battle 

Rio grabbed Charles Arbor by the scruff of his neck and dragged him down the hill in front of an audience of 5,000 soldiers. 

Christina bit down hard on her lip, maintaining a composed expression as she watched on intently. Before long, Rio was right beside her, throwing Charles onto the floor without a word. 

“Ha... Haha...” Charles had completely lost his will to fight. He laughed dryly. 

“Is everyone else okay?” Rio asked, mainly looking at Celia and Orphia. Along with Vanessa, the two had been on the ground when he arrived. 

“Yup. I was only hit a little, so I’m fine,” Celia answered. “Vanessa was only knocked out, so it isn’t anything life-threatening. Orphia... She had her magic essence sealed with an enchanted collar, but I removed it with Dispello.” 

Celia currently had her hand over Orphia’s stomach as she cast her healing magic. Right beside Orphia was the collar Charles had placed on her—a magic artifact commonly known as a sealing shackle. 

Like its name implied, it had the effect of sealing magic essence. In other words, it made it impossible to release essence from the body. However, it would be more accurate to say it was an item that absorbed the essence of the wearer, activating a sorcery that severely disturbed essence control and prevented them from acting freely. This was why it could activate automatically as long as it had a source of essence to absorb. 

“I’m fine. Cecilia’s healing magic is taking effect,” Orphia replied with an innocent smile. 

Just then, Christina, who had been watching the battle while checking on Vanessa’s condition, approached Celia. 

“Stay still, Professor. Cura.” 

She placed her hand against Celia’s cheek and activated her healing magic to ensure the area Charles struck didn’t swell up. Celia had said that she was fine, but, that was probably because she had been too focused on treating Orphia to notice the state of her cheek. 

“Thank you very much, Princess Christina.” Celia was dazed, as though she hadn’t noticed the pain until now. 

“Not at all,” Christina replied with a frown. 

Meanwhile, Rio picked up the sealing shackles that were beside Orphia and approached Charles. 

“Hahaha...” 

He clasped them around Charles’ neck. Charles showed no resistance, letting him do as he pleased. He merely laughed brokenly, like he was trying to escape from reality. 

Rio frisked Charles and found two more sealing shackles in his possession, confiscating them. There was also a rope suitable for arrest, so he used it to restrain Charles’ arms. 

“Sara, Alma,” Rio called out. 

“Yes?” the two replied. 

“Could the two of you disarm the people lying around and gather them together? Then tie them up with a rope or something. There may be some who still have the strength to resist, so be careful.” 

“Understood.” 


“Leave it to us!” 

Sara and Alma both nodded firmly before moving into action immediately. The enemies that Rio swept earlier were lying all over the place. 

“Rei, Kouta,” Rio called out to the two boys standing around with nothing to do. 

“Y-Yes?” 

“Could you also help disarm the enemies and gather all their weapons in one place off to the side?” 

“...Okay.” 

Kouta and Rei looked a little nervous, but set off right away. After they left, Rio approached Alfred, who was unconscious. 

I should cuff him twice, just in case... 

If the wearer’s essence control was exceptional, it was possible for them to defy the effects of the sealing shackles and control their magic. It was difficult to use advanced magic in such a state, but Rio decided to use two sealing shackles in consideration of Alfred’s abilities. Afterwards, he tied his hands and feet together with rope, retrieved Alfred’s enchanted sword that had fallen to the ground, then left him there. 

As for Rui... 

Rio walked over to Rui and paused, a troubled look on his face. Should he restrain the hero, a disciple of the Six Wise Gods, as a prisoner? He was technically on friendly terms with him. 

There was something else bothering him, too—the hesitation he felt from Rui during the earlier battle. When they exchanged those last few words before Rio knocked him unconscious, it almost seemed like Rui didn’t want to fight. 

It seemed unlikely that Rui would resist and rage recklessly if he woke up to this decisive scenario. After a brief moment of thought, Rio carefully picked Rui up in his arms. In the end, he decided not to restrain him. If Rui still wanted to fight, he’d have to subdue him. 

“Mmgh...” Rui regained consciousness, cracking his eyes open. 

“Good morning,” Rio greeted a little awkwardly. 

“Haruto... Ah, I see...” Rui said, immediately understanding the situation he was in. 

“I don’t want to resort to violence, so will you be compliant?” 

“Yes. I have no intention of resisting.” Rui nodded weakly at Rio’s question. 

“...” Rio said nothing else as he headed back to Celia with Rui in his arms. Instead, Rui opened his mouth to say something first—and for some reason, quite happily: “It’s the first time in my life... That I faced someone head-on and lost, that is.” 

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t control myself and had to knock you unconscious.” 

“No, it’s strangely refreshing. Come to think of it, it’s my first time being carried in a bridal style like this, too. At least from what I can remember.” Rui looked up at the radiant sunset and chuckled in delight. 

“I’m sorry...” 

“Please don’t say that. It’s comfortable.” Rui’s laughter drew Rio into chuckling along with him. 

“I’m glad you were my opponent, Haruto. Truly...” Rui mumbled softly, looking up at the sky. 



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