Grausam was gone.
"I truly owe you for this, Qual."
Glück set little store by his own aged life. What worried him far more were his daughter and his grandson.
"Strange. He had every chance to catch this old one off guard — to cripple me at the very least, or finish me outright. Why did he hold back?"
Qual studied the empty office doorway, his eyes narrowing until they were barely more than slits.
"Perhaps he was simply too arrogant."
"Then that makes two of us. Shameful, really — this old one nearly went down at the hands of a youngster."
In truth, had Brother Miracle ever posed a genuine threat to his life, Qual still had a way to kill him: use Killing Magic to flatten everything in existence except himself.
Illusion or reality — nothing could hide beneath the firepower of Killing Magic.
The tactic's one great flaw was that it would cut down any ally standing nearby.
Back when Qual was a Demon who came and went alone, that had never mattered. Now there was a human lord at his side to account for.
Just as Macht had told him once, long ago — magic of the mind was a genuine nuisance to deal with.
In Gaderia, the two Demon Hunters remained under house arrest.
"Captain… I'm the one who dragged you down."
"It's not your damn fault."
"I think I know that white-haired Demon Race member. She saved my old man and me, years back. And the village drove her out for it. I even thanked her, back then."
The ring of bandages around his face had been peeled away, and Timmy found himself back in that harrowing day from his childhood.
"Now that's a curious thread of fate."
Rolwen chewed a strip of dried meat, gazing up at the spotless ceiling, thoughtful.
"Are there really Demon Race who are kind to Humans?"
The question knotted itself up in Timmy. He had been so young then — and in the years since, he had seen far too many vicious members of the Demon Race.
He was a Demon Hunter. Doubt like that would get him killed one day.
"What do you make of this city?"
"Mm. It's good. Prosperous. People here always seem to be smiling — honestly, I think it's better than the Kingdom of Ert. Er. I mean, that's just the truth."
"Yeah. That is the truth."
As he spoke, Rolwen pulled out a coin purse and tossed it onto the table in front of Timmy. The bag split at one corner, showing a glitter of gold and silver coinage from a dozen different nations.
"You've been discharged from Squad Three of the Demon Hunters. Take the funds, go home, and give your old man a comfortable life. And you did find that woman you're sweet on, didn't you? It isn't too late to go after her."
"Captain, what's gotten into you?!"
"Damn it. I've just worked out that I'm a frog at the bottom of a well. I killed the Demon that took my family and called it vengeance, then cut down the Red Mirror Dragon and let it go to my head, and started believing I was a real Demon Hunter. And now all I can do is swallow my pride in front of monsters like those."
Only then did it dawn on Timmy: his captain had never climbed out of his hatred for the Demon Race. If not for him, Rolwen might well have gone on carrying out his mission to destroy Gaderia from the shadows.
"Timmy — if we come out of this alive, I'm going back to the Kingdom of Ert to find the rest of Squad Three. And you are not following me. Go live a normal life!"
Timmy stared at that worn, hollowed-out face in disbelief. The cocky, easy-going captain he knew might as well have been replaced by another man.
And just as he groped for something comforting to say —
the door was shoved open with a bang.
A cool, clear voice carried in.
"I want to make a trip to the Kingdom of Ert, where the demon-hunting organization is. You two will guide me."
Nanoda had brought news that made Rolwen feel the sky itself was about to come down.
Rumor spread the way insects breed and swarm at the height of summer — everywhere at once, and multiplying with every step.
The demon-hunting organization of the Kingdom of Ert had been wiped out by the Demon Race, and the whole Kingdom of Ert with it, slaughtered and erased as a nation.
Every survivor told the same story: it was a band of Demon Race calling themselves the free power of Gaderia, waging war for the future of their kind.
"And what game is this supposed to be?"
Serie frowned at the report Lernen had presented to her.
"Shall we send someone to Gaderia to demand an answer, Lord Serie?"
Something about it did not sit right with Lernen. He had met Yuna and that Demon Race member called Nanoda many times, had even worked alongside them to a degree — this was not how that Demon did things.
"That mild-tempered Demon doesn't stir up quarrels for nothing. Send people to the Kingdom of Ert first and find out exactly what happened."
On her throne, Serie waved a hand and closed her eyes.
The Northern Empire.
"This is nothing less than an affront to the dignity of the Empire! 'For the future of the Demon Race'?! Murdering nobles of the Empire — that is a crime punishable by death!"
The young King, seated straight-backed on the palace throne, delivered the threat as though reciting it off a page.
"Where is Levi? Fetch him here at once — he is to assemble an elite force immediately and march on Gaderia!"
The nobles and senior ministers standing in the hall traded glances and murmured among themselves.
Before long, one minister stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, the Shadow Warriors are in the Southern Lands at present, preparing to intervene in the war stirred up by the rebel witch Minus."
"Hm? Did I ever issue such an order? Has he turned on me?! Abandoning his post, acting on his own authority — when he returns he will most certainly answer for it!"
Once again the Emperor spat his fury like lines read aloud from a script.
But the wine was never the point of the drinking.
The nobles of the civil faction, hearing that the Emperor meant to punish Levi, let ugly little smiles spread across their faces.
The armored Knight Commander who led the Northern Empire's Knight Order, on the other hand, frowned.
"Does anyone here object?!"
"We support Your Majesty's decision."
It was not only the civil faction — a good many ministers of the military faction voiced their support as well. The Knight Commander sighed to himself and swallowed the words he had meant to say.
Night, over the ruins of the Kingdom of Ert.
"Miracle. You failed." Schlacht kept his eyes closed, and there was displeasure in his voice.
"Aren't you the one who can see the future? That Sage of Corruption, Qual, happened to turn up right there. There was nothing I could do."
Grausam's face was the picture of innocence.
"At present, I cannot see your future."
"I fought at full strength. That old Senior's Mana volume is greater than mine, and dragging the fight out would only have worked against me. Fleeing was the best choice."
"You did not even bring back a hostage?"
"You never asked me to. Doing whatever it takes has never been my strength. I merely followed orders to assassinate the lord."
Brother Miracle's answer was seamless, apparently; the Omniscient One could not find a single thread to pull.
"And the information? Did the blame land on Gaderia cleanly?"
"You can see it well enough, I imagine. That future."
"You've done well. Carry on."
Schlacht said nothing more. He turned and left, and the black-cloaked figure dissolved into the far end of the night.
"…"
Standing alone atop the ruins, Grausam curved his lips into a smile at an eerie, unnatural angle.
____
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