Ch.193Side Story 2. The Story After, Milia (1)

# After the Story, Millia (1)

After spending the first night that wasn’t really the first night.

The next day, Tina woke up in a perfectly sober state, not intoxicated with pleasure, and felt an indescribable embarrassment.

Things beyond imagination had happened the night before. Because she had been intoxicated with dragon’s blood and made her mind a complete mess beyond what she wanted, her head had ironically become clear.

After everything was over, she had put her clothes back on, but somehow…

‘Have I been wearing this kind of outfit all this time?’

Belatedly, she wondered if her clothes were too revealing.

Since she prioritized mobility, it was natural for her to wear comfortable clothes, but the more she recalled Lug’s touch from the night before, the more she felt like the exposed parts of her body were burning.

So Tina folded her wings to hide her entire body.

Just as she was about to laugh at how she looked like someone hiding under a blanket,

Lug looked into Tina’s eyes with a relatively serious face and said.

“Tina.”

“Huh? Uh, um, yes. What?”

“Shouldn’t we head back to the Demon Lord’s castle soon?”

“Y-yes, we should, right?”

She acted as if she had completely forgotten that she had been keeping Lug captive, taking it for granted that they would return home.

That was normal and natural. It was just that Tina had been acting strange, intoxicated with desire all this time.

Lug nodded with satisfaction, remembering once again that Tina was the conscience of the hero’s party.

A gentle atmosphere spreading softly. A feeling as if the two had finally become not just friends but a married couple. Yes, at this moment when their hearts connected.

Pop!

“Huh…? Lug? Where did you go?”

Lug disappeared right before Tina’s eyes.

***

My vision changed in an instant.

From the underground cave where soft light was seeping in, to an unidentified laboratory where a soft light was spreading.

Had I lost consciousness?

Had someone kidnapped me again in the meantime?

No, that couldn’t be.

I was clearly conscious and even having a conversation with Tina. Moreover, if I had fainted, there would definitely be something wrong with my body.

But right now, I was in the same physical condition as when I was talking with Tina, and I could still feel the cool sensation of sitting on the cold cave floor.

And if I had been kidnapped, Tina wouldn’t have just stood by.

Then what is this?

How should I interpret this situation? No, there is a power that can make this kind of situation possible.

“No, but still that’s…”

The first thing that came to mind was the divine power I had accumulated during my ascetic days, the power of a celestial being that transcends space.

But that’s nonsense.

The celestial power has already disappeared and melted into this land, changing the world.

Even though I immediately erased that assumption that had briefly crossed my mind, the anxiety creeping up my back remained.

“Lug.”

Because I vaguely understood where this anxiety was coming from.

That’s why I couldn’t turn around at the voice coming from behind me.

It was a familiar voice.

Of course, how could I not recognize the voice of my beloved wife?

“I finally found you.”

An overwhelming presence touching my back.

Just as my lips were about to relax at that cozy feeling, I felt suffocated the moment I recalled the owner of that presence.

One who twists the principles of this world.

Explorers who dare to challenge divine powers with human bodies.

Mage.

“Did you miss me?”

Millia Asrin.

***

There’s something called an impression.

No matter how unbiased you try to be when dealing with people, you can’t help but interpret the same actions differently depending on the person’s tendencies.

There can be first impressions, or judgments based on experiences from past interactions.

For example:

Lug thought of Esmeralda as a hero and considered her the most dangerous, yet he also thought she was a person of integrity.

Therefore, he often judged that she wouldn’t kill the remnants of the Demon Lord’s army.

In that sense, Tina is someone who shows absolute trust.

Although she went berserk this time, Lug still trusts Tina.

He will continue to trust her.

That her actions contain no malice, only misunderstandings.

Because he thought so, he was able to persuade her well this time too.

…Then what about Millia?

In some sense, there is also an absolute belief about Millia.

Yes, the belief that he should never be left alone with her.

“Millia.”

“Yes, Lug.”

Millia, who had been embracing Lug from behind, let go at his call and took a step back, raising her head.

Only then did Lug turn around and carefully ask while examining Millia’s expression as she looked up at him with a blank face.

“What is this? How am I here?”

“Hmm…”

How on earth did she do it? How could she summon me here?

It’s similar to celestial power, but Millia is ultimately a mage. She would have chosen a method that disrupts the principles of the world, not divine power.

However, as far as Lug remembers, there’s no such magic that can summon someone to one’s location.

‘I know she learned spatial magic, but…’

Lug knew that Millia had learned spatial magic. In the past, when Lug was working as a porter and complained about heavy luggage, didn’t she just go and learn it?

Spatial magic is difficult to learn and difficult to handle.

As such, there are few known applications, and it’s difficult for Lug to judge, but…

‘To summon someone other than oneself to where one is…’

Is that even possible?

Magic basically unfolds with oneself at the center. The reason spatial magic is difficult is that one must forcibly connect the space where one currently is with another arbitrary space.

In the case of void magic, it’s rather easier because it creates a space that doesn’t exist.

Transcending space requires understanding the space one wants to go to.

That’s why it’s difficult, and before the assault on the Demon Lord’s castle, Millia couldn’t handle spatial teleportation magic.

Even if she had learned spatial teleportation magic in the meantime, how did she find out where Lug was?

“I summoned you by mixing curse magic with spatial magic.”

“Curse?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of curse?”

“This kind.”

Millia placed a doll woven from straw on Lug’s hand.

It was the most common form of curse doll that comes to mind when thinking of curses.

“I used your hair on this, and when I used spatial magic, I could target you and bring you here.”

It was a chilling story. That Millia uses curse magic?

No, it was the fact that she separately possessed Lug’s hair.

Why? For what purpose? Lug pretended not to notice the cold sweat running down his back and maintained his composure.

Through his experiences, he had realized that saying unnecessary things in such situations could be dangerous, depending on how Millia might react.

“Lug.”

“Yes?”

“You were kidnapped, right?”

“Pardon?”

Not an escape?

Lug forcibly swallowed the words that were about to come out and waited for Millia’s words.

“If you had run away, there’s no way I wouldn’t have found you, right? It must have been someone cunning and terrible who kidnapped you and restrained you.”

“S-something like that.”

He was kidnapped.

He was restrained.

Tina did it, and Garnet did it.

Of course, he also escaped, but since she didn’t ask about that part, there was nothing to feel uncomfortable about.

Anyway, if Millia also thinks that he was kidnapped, things might work out well.

Lug swallowed dry saliva and prepared to persuade Millia.

But…

Crackle!

“Uh…”

Lug, who was reaching out to Millia, had to step back in alarm when he saw sparks flying as if something invisible was blocking him.

Along with those sparks, the area blocking him was clearly revealed in the darkness for a moment, and he could see that a magic circle of the same color as the sparks was glowing beneath his feet.

“Why? You don’t want to leave here, do you? You like being with me. I can give you everything you want, you know?”

“…”

Watching the magic circle gradually losing its light again, Lug couldn’t raise his head and could only remain silent.

Come to think of it, Millia hadn’t said a single word about summoning Lug to rescue him.

No, if she had intended to rescue him, there would have been no reason to summon him to such a dark and enclosed place.

Yes, Millia Asrin.

“You don’t need to be afraid anymore. You don’t need to bear the weight of a crown that doesn’t suit you. Just live happily here with me.”

She…

“I’ll take care of everything else. Let’s just be happy.”

She simply intended to keep Lug captive more firmly than anyone else.

Lug raised his head.

And before the magic circle designed to keep him captive completely lost its light, he could see Millia’s face.

“I finally realized.”

Behind Millia, who was looking at him with an expressionless face while holding her staff.

“If I keep you in a place like this where only I can see you, I don’t need to worry anymore.”

Black tentacles were writhing.

“You are mine now.”