Ch.9898. Epilogue

Camilla had been in quite a bad mood lately. For someone who always sought out interesting things and rarely even frowned, this was extremely unusual.

Of course, being human, she couldn’t always be in a good mood.

There were times when she saw something physiologically disgusting, or when something she thought would be interesting turned out to be boring upon closer inspection, or when she witnessed something she didn’t like.

This time, Camilla’s bad mood stemmed from the third reason. Having seen something she greatly disliked, her mood showed no signs of improving.

“Gilbert, I have something to ask you.”

“Speak.”

“How many children are you thinking of having?”

“What?”

“As you can see, I have an exceptionally well-trained body. That means I can bear as many children as you want. But despite appearances, I am still a woman. I’d like you to tell me in advance so I can at least mentally prepare myself.”

“Tsk!”

Camilla, watching Gilbert and Brynhild’s conversation from a distance, sucked in her breath disapprovingly.

This was exactly the kind of situation that fell under her third reason—something she greatly disliked.

Recently, Brynhild, the great warrior of the Sigurd Tribal Confederation with whom they had dramatically established peaceful relations, had been publicly courting Gilbert after losing in an ancient dueling ritual called the Volsung Saga.

Her reason was equally absurd—she had vowed to marry the man who defeated her.

That muscle-bound woman (Camilla’s own naming) seemed to have muscles for brains as well, forcing such an outdated and ridiculous notion on Gilbert.

As someone who prided herself on being his best friend, Camilla found this unreasonable tyranny absolutely intolerable.

Moreover, hadn’t she recently resolved to stand by his side after deeply reflecting on her own inadequacies?

All the more reason why she shouldn’t stand by and watch such absurd coercion.

“Alright. I’ll save him!”

“Save him? What are you talking about, Camilla?”

“Eek!”

Just as she clenched her fists in determination, someone tapped her shoulder.

Camilla, who had been lost in her own thoughts, was so startled that she let out a most unladylike shriek.

Wiping away cold sweat, she turned around to find Lily, who had not yet returned to her domain and was still staying in Bismarck.

“Lily! You scared me. You should at least make your presence known!”

“I’ve been calling you for a while, but you didn’t answer. What were you thinking about so deeply that you didn’t hear me?”

Lily gave Camilla a strange look as she overreacted with excessive irritation. Though she was behaving eccentrically as usual, it seemed a bit excessive even for her.

“Did you? Sorry! I had something on my mind. Oh, perfect timing! Help me out, Lily!”

“Help you? That’s not difficult, but what do you need help with?”

Normally when Camilla was in this state, her requests were incomprehensibly bizarre, but Lily, kind by nature, always obliged. This time too, Camilla seemed more enthusiastic than usual, as if she had found something interesting.

“We need to save Gilbert from that muscle-bound woman!”

“Muscle-bound woman…? You don’t mean Lady Brynhild, do you?”

“Yes! That woman is forcing something unreasonable on Gilbert! When a friend is in trouble, not helping would make me a failure as a friend!”

Lily looked over at Gilbert and Brynhild conversing in the distance. So this was about Gilbert—that explained her peculiar friend’s conclusion.

Lily couldn’t shake the feeling that this situation was going to become quite troublesome.

“I’ll help, but what exactly do you mean by ‘save him’?”

“Obviously, when that woman stops forcing things on Gilbert!”

“Shouldn’t we think about this? What if Gilbert actually likes what you’re calling ‘coercion’?”

“What are you saying? That’s impossible.”

Seeing her friend look at her as if she’d said something strange, Lily couldn’t help but sigh.

As expected, she was getting dragged into something bothersome.

***

Gilbert was able to prepare to leave Bismarck after successfully establishing peace with the Sigurd Tribal Confederation. While his father, the Count of Lithuania, made the major decisions for their domain, it was Gilbert who had provided the opportunity for this peace treaty, making his absence somewhat problematic.

Moreover, having enlisted Seraphina, his classmate and the Empire’s First Princess, to ensure everything went smoothly, he needed to wrap things up perfectly.

Fortunately, the warrior image he had displayed in the saga had apparently impressed Chief Tarhal, allowing them to establish peace without major discord.

There was an awkward moment when he was asked to take good care of the chief’s sister, causing him to break into a cold sweat privately, but he had managed to complete the main story successfully.

The next main story was… the exchange tournament.

As he organized his belongings, Gilbert thought about the upcoming main story. It was the exchange tournament with other academies, a common event in games and novels set in academy settings.

This main story was one of the few without a game over scenario, serving as an opportunity to spread fame beyond the Infractus Empire where Demeia Academy was located.

Even if one hadn’t stood out in the early main stories, achieving good results in the exchange tournament could earn a significant amount of fame points, making it a valuable main story.

While fame points weren’t particularly helpful in the beginning, as the story progressed, more restrictions appeared, making this main story crucial for those who hadn’t acquired much fame early on.

Not really relevant to me now.

That was Gilbert’s conclusion as he opened his status window after a long time to check his fame points.

He already held a 5th-rank knight title, and thanks to being used in imperial propaganda, his fame points had reached an incredible number that seemed impossible to have earned in the early stages.

Furthermore, his status as the eldest son of House Hart, the former disciple of the Sword Saint Briana, and the teacher of Seraphina, the first in line for imperial succession, had elevated his fame even higher.

Though it was somewhat painful that his previous infamy remained, it was undeniable that he had navigated the early stages excellently.

– Knock knock

Gilbert was pulled from his thoughts by a sudden knock at the door.

“You may enter.”

“Are you already preparing to leave?”

“Brother, we’re here.”

It was his two siblings who had come to see him. Though their visit was unexpected, he welcomed them both.

“Hmm. Both of you coming at once—do you have business with me?”

“I thought you might leave without saying anything, so I came to say goodbye.”

“I see.”

“See? Before, I disliked you because you were irritating, but now I dislike you because you’re cold.”

“I’ll take that into consideration.”

Gilbert had to suppress a bitter smile at Dorothy’s pouting face.

Though they were his siblings in this world, Gilbert’s circumstances as someone who had possessed this body made it somewhat difficult to interact with them.

The fact that Gilbert had been an orphan in his original world also contributed to his unfamiliarity with the concept of family.

“Whatever. It’s true that I prefer you as you are now.”

Though she appeared aloof, her words carried a warmth unlike before. Was this really the same girl who had radiated such coldness when they first met? Looking at her, Gilbert felt reassured that what he had been doing wasn’t wrong.

“I’ll be more mindful in the future.”

“You know words without action are meaningless, right?”

“I know.”

“Then that’s fine. Though if you continue as you have been, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Gilbert smiled slightly at her turning away with a “hmph” and roughly tousled her hair. It reminded him of fond memories from his previous world.

“W-what are you doing? A lady’s hair shouldn’t be touched carelessly, even by family!”

“Is that so?”

“Seriously! Stop it!”

Dorothy’s cheeks turned slightly red, perhaps from embarrassment, but Gilbert chose not to mention it to avoid her scolding.

Instead, he turned his attention to his other sibling who was standing awkwardly.

“Glinda. Did you also come to say goodbye?”

“Something like that. Dorothy was too embarrassed to come alone, so she begged me to come with her.”

“Second brother, I told you not to say unnecessary things!”

“As you can see, this is the situation.”

Glinda smiled wryly as he tried to calm down the agitated Dorothy. Gilbert watched the familiar scene quietly with a smile on his face.

“By the way, brother.”

Having finally calmed Dorothy, Glinda called to Gilbert with a serious expression. It seemed he had a purpose in seeking him out.

“Did you mean what you said before?”

“Before?”

“Yes. About giving up your position as heir.”

Come to think of it, he had said that to Glinda when he visited during the Lion King’s Birthday. It was something he had said considering his eventual return and Glinda’s rightful place as heir, and his thoughts hadn’t changed.

“Yes. I intend to give up the heir position.”

“But why? Just looking at recent events, you’ve brilliantly protected our domain from harm. I believe you should remain as heir.”

“No, my mind is made up. I will relinquish the heir position.”

“Brother.”

“Glinda, being heir means succeeding our father. That means governing the vast Lithuania domain. That’s not something one can do just by knowing how to handle divine soldier disease a little. It’s not a fitting role for me. You should take it.”

“But—”

“I won’t hear any objections. Think carefully about what path would be best for the people of our domain.”

Glinda bowed his head at Gilbert’s resolute words.

He couldn’t ultimately overcome Gilbert’s heartfelt determination.

“…I understand, brother.”

“Good.”

Gilbert nodded as he looked at Glinda with his head bowed.

No matter how he thought about it, it wasn’t right for him to become heir when he would eventually return. Considering the repercussions if he suddenly disappeared, this was the correct decision.

And even if he couldn’t return and ended up staying, Glinda, who had been receiving heir training in his place, was more suited to the role than Gilbert, who was completely clueless about domain management.

In the end, the conversation concluded with Glinda accepting the heir position as Gilbert had suggested.

They spent the remaining time sharing conversations they hadn’t been able to have before his departure.