Ch.288The Eve (1)

One week. A time that can be short or long, depending on how you look at it.

Llewellyn stood before the people summoned together with the Emperor after returning the fortress of the three clans above the Pantheon.

“One week? Isn’t that too short?”

Lucilla was the first to argue about the lack of time.

“Can’t we extend it?”

“No. Mother has already decided.”

“But if I ask nicely…”

“And Mother’s decisions are usually based on rationality.”

After hearing the Emperor’s words, she had no choice but to close her mouth.

“Does that mean it would be dangerous to take more than a week?”

Melody asked, and the Emperor, with a face resembling Lucilla’s, blinked and nodded.

“A last line of defense, then.”

“…Oh? I’m surprised you know such an old saying.”

The Emperor expressed admiration. Llewellyn wondered how his words had been translated but didn’t bother to ask.

It was probably translated into something similar but different from Earth. A term used only in this Netel.

It wasn’t an important detail. Llewellyn dismissed it indifferently and sighed.

“One week, huh. What will happen after one week, then?”

He wasn’t asking because he didn’t know. He simply felt the need to clarify. Everyone seemed to understand this, their faces clearly troubled as they trailed off and exchanged glances.

Who would speak first? There was no need to deliberate, so Melody spoke with her characteristically pleasant voice and manner.

“If we limit ourselves to the kinds of threats we can imagine, there will be enemy attacks, just like with Nerilmaeus, right?”

“Enemy attacks. It’s impossible to predict what kind.”

“That’s right. They say there are countless transcendents in the world, and their number is as diverse as the number of contractors.”

Literally meaning prediction was meaningless. Llewellyn clicked his tongue and glanced at the Court Count, the Empress, and the Prophet.

“Do any of you know something?”

“My King, transcendents are beings largely unknown even to us.”

The Court Count answered with a slight bow of his head, while the Empress just smiled brightly and shrugged her shoulders.

But the Prophet was different. He stroked his beard beneath his aged-looking face.

“However, we have classifications based on eyewitness accounts. We’ve compiled general information, reflections on the phenomena they cause, and records of famous contractors.”

“Oh?”

“Studying the enemy is a natural duty, after all.”

The Prophet was different from the Empress, who was closer to hedonism, or the Court Count, who was more like a warrior.

He was thoroughly scholarly. His techniques used against the Dragon King and his usual conduct showed him to be a strict academic type who didn’t easily give his trust.

And because of that nature, there were things that could be reliably entrusted to him.

“Will contractors come too?”

“They will definitely come. If what Mother is doing interferes with their plans… whether pushed, threatened, or by whatever means, they will find their way to this Pantheon.”

Melody asked, and the Prophet answered. During their question and answer exchange, a girl smaller than Ortemilia, who had been quiet until now, raised her hand.

On her back was the shield-breaker she had been using, now repaired, and at her waist hung the thin sword used by duel scholars—a swordswoman who was both a duel scholar and the disciple of the Sword Saint.

Maya opened her mouth.

“On that matter, my master has made a suggestion. Would the leader of the necromancers accompany us if you have no other plans after this?”

Llewellyn thought it made sense. Though the Sword Saint was a true madman obsessed with combat, he was a monster whose battle experience surpassed even the Dragon King.

He must have fought all kinds of contractors and grasped at least fragments of the powers of various transcendents.

If that was the case, it was right to ask the Sword Saint for his views. Furthermore, if he collaborated with scholars like the Prophet, they could devise better strategies.

Maya looked at Llewellyn as if asking for permission, and Llewellyn nodded.

Gratitude briefly flashed in Maya’s black eyes.

“Then the remaining issue is establishing conventional defense measures.”

This time the words came from Balterok. One of the Three Powers of the Continent, and the golem who had lived the longest among the three.

A powerful being who normally stood guard in the sky above the Pantheon, utilizing those special qualities.

At his words, Llewellyn pondered.

“I’d like you to continue your regular guard duties.”

“Of course. I was thinking of mobilizing the Black Knights as well.”

“That’s good too. Handle the shift times and frequencies as you see fit. Ask if the Pantheon needs any support or anything else.”

“Will do.”

Balterok quietly departed, but many people still remained.

Those who stayed had different business and opinions. Llewellyn carefully listened to each opinion they offered while organizing his thoughts.

This might be the Pantheon’s final battle. It wouldn’t hurt to prepare thoroughly.

In the midst of this, the Empress suddenly spoke.

“It might not be just one day.”

Words uttered with an extremely pleased expression. It was during a time when the Court Count and Melody were discussing deployment strategies for high alert—things Llewellyn didn’t know much about.

“What do you mean, not just one day?”

“The attack, the offensive, the time we need to defend this place… it might not be just one day.”

Still smiling, but Llewellyn found that smile eerie. It had been that way from the beginning.

There was something lurking in the Empress’s smile. Something like a predator that made humans’ knees tremble.

Llewellyn read the “concern” deep within that smile.

“…You mean.”

“Can Mother close the world in just one day with a snap?”

Though she explained with cute sound effects and gestures, the content was enough to sicken everyone.

“If not one day, then a week, if not a week, then a month… in the worst case, it could even take a year?”

How exciting.

No one agreed with her words as she chuckled, but they made sense.

Maintaining a defensive posture and continuing to fight was only possible within a limited timeframe.

If, like medieval sieges, they had to endure for over a year, not just holding out but actively engaging in offense…

‘We can’t hold out.’

Everyone could understand that fact. What should be done in that case?

Llewellyn realized it was time for his “solution” to shine.

“I have a method.”

As eyes turned to him at these quietly spoken words, Llewellyn spoke.

The best plan to prepare for the worst.

*

After the meeting ended, not everything was resolved neatly.

Problems still remained, and time remained as well. Time too precious to spend meaninglessly—time that might be the last.

Regardless of the different intentions they had come with, the fact that they were not exempt from the current crisis was undeniable.

After the meeting, people left the room to either spend their potential last moments or prepare for them.

Llewellyn was one of them. As he left the room and everyone dispersed, someone stopped him.

“Sejin.”

A name called sweetly. Llewellyn smiled.

“Yes, noona.”

“Want to talk with your noona for a bit?”

A talk with noona. Depending on the situation, it might be frightening, but Llewellyn knew this wasn’t such a situation, so he nodded without showing any fear.

Fortunately, she called him gently and didn’t do anything to frighten him.

Rather, it was the opposite. After Lucilla asked Eshaterna to leave them alone, she looked at Llewellyn with a somewhat worried expression.

“Sejin, what are you going to do?”

Her question was full of concern. Llewellyn could understand his sister.

She was imagining the possibility that the sanctuary they had barely secured after being dragged from reality could be completely destroyed. If even the thought made Llewellyn shudder, how much worse must it be for his sister?

Rather, Llewellyn knew that since he and Lucilla were siblings, they must be similar.

Meaning she would be feeling it worse than him, not less.

“I’ll have to do what I can. Give it my best.”

“Exactly how?”

“Well, repelling incoming enemies and holding out will be the main approach.”

“Is that going to be enough?”

As expected, Lucilla was clearly showing her worry.

Not just logical concern, but anxiety stemming from the fear of losing her brother and their sanctuary.

Llewellyn saw his sister’s turbulent eyes and fidgeting hands, and gently reached out to hold them.

“Ah.”

A sound that escaped in that moment. Llewellyn massaged his sister’s neither large nor small hands and smiled.

“Noona, you think too much.”

“But still.”

His sister whining, which was rare. Llewellyn thought such a Lucilla was cute, and after releasing her hand, he reached for her shoulder.

Lucilla, who had let out a small sound of disappointment when he let go of her hand, smiled slightly at the warmth enveloping her shoulder, and didn’t resist when her brother pulled her into an embrace.

The fullness he felt as he hugged her was impressive. Even though he had just satisfied his desires, there was still a desire rising slightly.

Perhaps people really do need home cooking, and men need to embrace their older sisters? Llewellyn buried his face in his sister’s crown with that thought, which wouldn’t gain much agreement from anyone but him.

There was a pleasant scent. The distinctive smell of soap water mixed with the feminine scent his sister always carried.

The fragrance Llewellyn had fallen asleep to every night since childhood, the scent that assured him the woman before him was his sister.

Llewellyn inhaled that scent as he embraced his sister, and Lucilla, breathing slightly heavily, wrapped her arms around her brother’s waist and buried her nose in his chest, taking a deep breath.

“Mmm, I love you…”

At the confession that slipped out like sleep-talking, Llewellyn smiled slightly. He thought that if he had known his sister was like this, they could have become lovers without having to move to another world.

“Me too.”

Llewellyn loved his sister. He loved and cherished her both as family and as a lover.

Llewellyn needed a sanctuary where he could live with his sister.

Perhaps he also needed an environment where he could care for the children he would have with his sister.

Although they would be children born of incest, and according to social norms, they would be children who shouldn’t exist.

Llewellyn was certain that this sanctuary was the Pantheon. If Llewellyn was to continue living happily, this place had to remain.

The time left was one week. Llewellyn intended to spend that week productively.

By helping with defense preparations, preparing many things, and steeling himself to fight.

So Llewellyn said:

“We must protect it at all costs.”

Indeed, Lucilla and Llewellyn were siblings. She too was thinking similarly to Llewellyn. Although Lucilla’s thoughts were a bit more extreme.

The mindset of someone who possessed a personal nuclear bomb that could be detonated at any time was bound to be different.

“Yes, absolutely.”

Lucilla thought that no matter what happened, she would protect her brother. Even if the world burned.