Ch.141Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan. (3)

Light dimly shines through the curtains. The Devilhunter trembled, wrapped in blankets.

Memories of comrades who shared life and death, before the betrayal.

“Are you roasting scorpions again? You think I brought you preservation containers from the magic tower for this?”

Things that have faded so much they’re difficult to recall now.

“It’s lonely to travel alone.”

In front of a burning campfire, that’s what the old comrade said.

“Give me your bow. I’ll fix it for you.”

A nightmare.

A truly insufferable nightmare.

Because she knows she can never return to that time.

The Devilhunter was acutely experiencing how terribly painful the emotion of longing could be.

“You just need to come back before then. Right?”

With a gasp, she opened her eyes to find the familiar room before her.

The Imperial Princess’s Palace.

It had already been five years since she began staying in this castle under the pretext of being the princess’s retainer.

Her head throbbed.

[Oversleeping? That’s unlike you.]

The Devilhunter slowly turned her head. In a corner of the room was a shadow in the form of the Master of Dark.

“…Is it you or your projection?”

[Unfortunately, just a projection. My real body is in the office.]

“The office? What about the meeting?”

[No need to come. It ended a while ago.]

The Devilhunter could easily guess why she hadn’t been called to what was supposed to be a regular meeting.

“…I suppose the result was the same again.”

Maintain the status quo.

Remain vigilant against demons pushing in from the north, but neither confront other returnees nor actively search for Olivia.

This was completely opposite to the princess’s previous approach.

But she couldn’t say she didn’t understand her.

The world was flowing in a completely different direction from what they remembered.

Just maintaining the current system was overwhelming enough.

The Devilhunter left her room in combat gear. The Master of Dark’s projection followed behind her.

“…What’s my assigned mission? I’d prefer heading south if possible.”

[Unfortunately not. For now, come to where I am.]

The Devilhunter nodded and headed straight for the office.

“You’re here?”

The office table was piled high with documents. The princess with her snow-white fingers waved them around. The papers, guided by her magic power, were repeatedly sorted and approved according to her gestures.

“…Did you stay up all night again?”

“There’s just so much work. But maybe because I’m young, I don’t lack stamina. Magic helps quite a bit too.”

Magic, right.

It was magic that had drastically reduced the princess’s sleeping hours.

“Is there really a need for you to learn magic? You don’t need to be on the front lines…”

“I already lost once because I didn’t.”

“…”

The Master of Dark, who had been watching from the corner, quietly spoke up.

“Let’s set aside the heavy talk and discuss the operation.”

The Master of Dark spread a large map on the table. It was a detailed map of the entire continent. He pointed somewhere with a dagger.

“Two days ago, contact was lost with my subordinates investigating this area. It was a place we were keeping close watch on, so I deliberately sent only elite assassins, but they disappeared without a trace.”

“It must be the Demon God cult, right?”

“That’s highly likely, but we don’t know for certain yet.”

For several years now, groups with extremist ideologies had begun to emerge. These people, who called for the overthrow of the imperial family, had gone beyond merely inciting citizens and had begun assassinating high-ranking imperial officials.

So far, thirteen nobles had been assassinated.

Considering they were all high-ranking nobles of at least count status, this was no ordinary matter even for the empire.

The Devilhunter realized why they had called her here. Though not as skilled as the Master of Dark, she was also quite proficient in infiltration and ambush.

“The infiltration date is tomorrow at dawn.”

“Shouldn’t we observe for a few more days?”

“There’s no time. We have other tasks to handle, and we’re short on personnel.”

Over the past five years, too many events had swept through like a storm.

It was only because Aria was there that things ended at this level; without her, a third of the continent would have been consumed by flames.

“Devilhunter. Before you go, could you spare me a moment?”

Aria gave the Master of Dark a look. He nodded and discreetly disappeared into the shadows. When his presence had completely vanished, Aria spoke.

“Did you dream of Olivia?”

“…”

The Devilhunter didn’t answer. But her silence was answer enough. As if she had expected this, Aria slowly nodded.

“I thought so.”

Her words carried multiple meanings. Sensing the ominous atmosphere, the Devilhunter asked:

“Did you… have such dreams too?”

“That wasn’t a dream, but a terrible nightmare.”

Aria slowly reached out and grasped a cooling teacup. After a moment, steam rose from the tea. Aria brought the cup to her lips with a demure posture.

“…Whenever events that we didn’t experience in our previous life appear, I think: perhaps we didn’t know about these events in our previous life because Olivia had been handling them without our knowledge.”

It would be stranger not to have such thoughts.

Even the Devilhunter herself had thought the same at times.

“Maybe everything from our previous life was just our misunderstanding, and all this hatred, this grief, is just a misconception.”

“Maybe everything we’ve done was wrong.”

Aria’s eyes were calm. But her will burned like fire within them.

Many citizens milled about the central plaza. Aria gazed at the scene through the window.

She couldn’t bear to close her eyes.

[Aaaaargh!]

[Mom! Mommy!]

[Aaaah!]

If she closed her eyes, the horrors of that day would overlap with what she saw.

“Too many died.”

“…”

“Let’s say we forgive Olivia, and Olivia forgives us. Let’s say we somehow shed this hatred and return to our previous relationship, laughing together.”

Aria gave a bitter smile.

“But what if the same thing happens again? Whether by Olivia’s own will, or someone else’s, or if she’s suddenly possessed by a heart demon, or just snaps… what if she tries to destroy the world again?”

“…”

“Could we stop her? No, would we want to stop her?”

“…”

“If we’ve already forgiven her, and she’s no longer the enemy who killed us?”

The teacup was now empty.

“We’ve already mounted the tiger. We can’t stop, and we shouldn’t try to stop.”

“…”

“We shouldn’t forget this hatred either.”

Aria turned her head to face the Devilhunter.

“You’re the first.”

“…The first what?”

“The first to say such things. You might think it’s a typical approach, but you really are the first.”

“You had the same expression as me.”

As if reading the Devilhunter’s thoughts, Aria said:

“A complicated face with various emotions all mixed together.”

As the Devilhunter pondered Aria’s words, a strange premonition flashed through her mind.

…Is that really all there is to it?

Even if they were in a situation where they couldn’t dismount the tiger, they could change course if they wanted to.

Why…

Why did it feel like she was hiding something more?

Just how much did she know?

“You…”

Seeing the Devilhunter’s lips move, Aria simply smiled. She opened the office door and politely gestured toward the corridor with her other hand.

“Take care, Devilhunter.”

*****

[Time limit has expired.]

As Olivia lifted her eyelids, she heard a voice.

“Oh. Finally awake.”

The Serial Murderer gave an eye-smile.

“I thought I was going to die of boredom.”

His body was buried in a massive block of ice. It was good that she had set up safety measures before leaving.

Olivia looked at the Serial Murderer with a disapproving face, then sighed lightly as she placed her hand on the ice.

What could she do?

Even someone like him, she needed to take along.

‘How pitiful.’

To clear the demon realm and obtain the third key, she needed the Serial Murderer’s help.

There was a restriction that required two people to enter.

And incidentally, she could also “educate” him as a clue.

With a cracking sound, the ice collapsed. The Serial Murderer slid down like a fish that had been buried in ice.

“Hmm?”

The Serial Murderer didn’t immediately get up but tilted his head in confusion. He was genuinely perplexed.

He felt his body with both hands, then groaned again. He seemed unable to believe that his limbs were intact.

“Hmm? Hmmmm? Huh?”

The Serial Murderer rose to his feet with wide eyes.

“…Why did you free me?”

“Would you prefer I kill you?”

“Of course you should kill…”

The Serial Murderer closed his eyes. Then he placed one hand on his chest. His heart was beating irregularly.

Thump.

“…This is strange.”

His blood-red eyes narrowed.

“Really, this is strange.”

The Serial Murderer was no longer smiling.

“What did you do to me?”