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The Sorceress of Crimson Lotus, Bel, fainted.

As soon as she heard the news from the Saintess regarding the Empire, she collapsed, and Hero Lucius rushed over to manage the situation.

“I will take care of the Master.”

With that, Lucius promptly laid Bel down on the bed.

No one could easily cope with the sudden fainting, but Lucius quickly laid Bel on the bed as if he had been preparing for it all along.

The Principality hastily arranged a guest room for distinguished visitors, turning it into a place for absolute security, and the Magic King rushed in later to check on her condition and took all necessary measures for the Sorceress of Crimson Lotus.

However, Bel did not awaken immediately.

Perhaps the mental shock was significant, as she remained unconscious for nearly half a day, and Lucius sat by her bed, watching over her the entire time.

The reason for Bel’s sudden fainting?

Nobody knew.

Was it because she had drawn too much magic into her body and had defeated many enemies?

Was it the backlash from fighting without sleep until now?

Or perhaps it was due to the incessant calls from the people of the Principality outside, shouting “Hero!” just when she needed time to organize her thoughts with her eyes closed?

Nobody knew.

While the specific physical or tangible reason remained unclear, anyone could infer from the circumstances that it was due to “a significant mental shock.”

“Humanity has not grown at all in 500 years…!”

500 years ago.

The Sorceress of Crimson Lotus, Bel, made every effort to unify humanity for its salvation.

“And even with the Demon King appearing, there’s still this chaos!”

Yet humanity failed to unify until most heroes were defeated and, even with the Demon King’s army at their doorstep, they prioritized their own group’s interests.

“Do you think I broke the seal just to see this again?!”

At that time, she must have gone through tremendous emotional turmoil.

And now, having awakened from her seal after 500 years, what on earth was happening?

“I am once again disillusioned with humanity. I will resign from the Hero Party. Ascension!”

Humanity had not changed.

Humanity still acted for its own benefit, and even in the face of the enemy named Demon King Satan, humanity was repeating the same mistakes.

Certainly, that disappointment came to her as a mental shock, causing her consciousness to drift away.

“…Witch.”

Rosmas and Droniel could not lift their heads.

Though Lucius was Lucius, they could say nothing before the fainted Sorceress of Crimson Lotus.

Sneakily, the two just wanted to return to the Bride Ship.

While someone was working so hard for humanity that they fainted from mental shock, they felt deeply ashamed for thinking, during the past week of suffering, “I want to leave this place.”

“…If we had said we felt we had done enough and wanted to leave, the Witch would have been greatly disappointed.”

“If we suggested that the Principality and the Empire handle the matter regarding the Demon King’s army, she might have fainted from the shock we caused.”

Their judgment was shallow.

Even without the Demon King’s army, the people of the Anari Principality were pestering them day after day without malice. Moreover, the Empire was also looking out for their own interests regarding the Demon King’s army. Would Rosmas and Droniel really show skepticism about fighting the Demon King?

The shock must be immense.

“…Perhaps this happened 500 years ago, prompting her to speak so directly.”

“That could be. Maybe she was moving so urgently to avoid repeating the same mistakes… No, it might not have looked urgent to her. There must have been something only the Witch could see.”

“…It was just because the opponent was the Demon King.”

Yan replaced the damp cloth on Bel’s forehead.

“The Witch will surely wake up soon. She just has a lot to sort out in her thoughts and will certainly tell us what we should do once she awakens. So for now… let’s do what we can.”

“What we can do…?”

“Yes. Lucius, from now on, I will take care of the Witch. So please go in and rest. Just this morning you went out for bombardment, right?”

“…That was the Master who went, not me.”

“Mentally you must be tired, but physically, you’ve definitely built up fatigue.”

“That means the Master has been stressed.”

Lucius spoke in a stiff voice.

“The Master is a strong person. No matter what enemy she faced, she never seemed tired. I could understand if she had fought and defeated Demon King Satan and then collapsed like this. But that’s not the case.”

“…She fainted because she realized the Empire’s selfishness.”

“Right. For such a person to faint like this means she collapsed from disillusionment with humanity. The Empire… is no different than it was 500 years ago.”

Disbelief in humanity.

Misanthropy.

“Even though there’s a Hero of the Holy Sword known as the Emperor, they say the Principality should handle it on its own. Then a hero appears, and they’re trying to prevent the Hero from defeating the Demon King…”

Yet it was the Sorceress of Crimson Lotus who sought to save even those people.

“…Because of the Empire.”

Crack.

With a tight fist, the anger welled up.

If the Master does not awaken, the responsibility for all of this will rest on—

“Excuse me.”

With the sound of a knock, the Magic King, Endymion, entered the room accompanied by a green-haired woman in a maid’s outfit.

“Um, who is that…?”

“This is my assistant. Allow me to introduce Miss ‘Feor.'”

“…Hello.”

The maid bore a striking resemblance to Endymion, but her expression was stiff as a board.

“Saintess. I have come to inform you of the Anari Principality’s position now that it has been decided. Should we discuss this outside…?”

“No. Please speak here. Both the Hero and the party need to hear this.”

“…Understood. In the Anari Principality…”

The Magic King squeezed his eyes shut.

“If they don’t pass on at least 80% of the shares for the beasts killed in the Empire’s territory, they will cease the bombardment. That’s the conclusion we’ve reached.”

“What?!”

“How can you say such a thing?!”

A cessation of bombardment.

That meant the movement of the artillery would stop and that they would take no action against the Demon King’s army rampaging in the Empire.

“How can such a decision…!”

“This is a decision for both the Witch and the Hero.”

The maid assistant, Feor, stepped forward.

With her cat-like ears perked up, she boldly stood before the enraged hero.

“The Witch and the Hero fought ‘together,’ and I cannot allow the Empire to just gobble up all the credits. Regardless of whether it was the Empire’s land or not, it was the ‘Witch and the Hero’ who defeated the demons. There must be some form of compensation for that labor. Offering 80% is for the sake of the Witch and the Hero. Of course, we’ll need a slight labor fee to contract the soldiers who will recover the thirty thousand bodies…”

“Together with the Master…?”

“Yes, indeed. The Hero fought, but the Empire taking everything wouldn’t be something the Witch would wish for either.”

“……Ah.”

Lucius gaped in surprise.

“The words the Master spoke then… were for moments like this…?”

“Yes?”

“Oh, never mind. Understood. I will respect the Principality’s wishes. I will wait for a conclusion from the Empire. And if the Master awakens before that, I will act according to her opinion, as I am not from the Principality.”

“…Understood. However, I will make sure the Principality is prepared just in case the Witch does not awaken. Feor, return.”

“…Yes, Master.”

The Magic King exited the room with the maid.

Behind the maid, a green tail swayed back and forth, and Lucius momentarily tilted his head while looking at Feor.

“What’s the matter, Lucius?”

“…Oh, nothing. Just thought she was quite a peculiar person.”

“Yes?”

“I’ve never met someone like her before who I could have such a comfortable conversation with.”

The three women present in the room’s atmosphere momentarily fell flat.

“Do you perhaps like cats or beastkin…?”

“Not particularly, but um…”

Lucius became confused.

*

“So says the disciple, what do you think as a Master?”

“…Hmph.”

The green cat-eared maid girl, Feor, scoffed and sat with her legs crossed on the sofa.

“Of course, it’s only natural not to be a pushover. Hey, when the time comes to share the Magic Stones, if you’re too stingy, I’ll have to take care of you before Satan next. I’ll tell Lucius that the Magic King is actually the Demon King.”

“You go to the trouble of preparing an empty body for me…”

“Shut up. You could just toss me any random one, but you had to give me the one that used to be a maid beastkin to clear your conscience!”

“You fit well, Bel… Miss Feor. Hahaha!!”

Mammon laughed heartily, while I could say nothing.

“…Hah, I’ll really let this slide this time.”

“Heh, please continue to hold back. But what will you do now? Since the corpse you brought from the slave market probably doesn’t have much magic in it.”

“That’s true. If it wasn’t for the Magic Stone you gave me, I’d have to revert to my original body right away.”

I checked the condition of the Magic Core lodged in this body’s heart.

There wasn’t a lot of mana.

I could last for about a week just breathing.

Fortunately, the original body, which could be said to be the main one, could still hold on, but I had to finish my research within this week.

“If the Sorceress of Crimson Lotus has fainted, then those who would come to seek her out will stop. So during that time, I’ll conduct research here. Finding a way to track down Satan.”

“And if you find him, what will you do? You’ll just teleport away again.”

“I’ll have to prevent that from happening. With the power of magic.”

“…Is it possible from a distance?”

“No. It has to be done extremely close. By touching, I can make it so they can’t escape.”

As long as I could make physical contact, I could block teleportation.

“…But they’ll teleport before you can touch them?”

“That’s why we need to find out the ‘coordinates.’ You and I will conduct research on it.”

“If we know the coordinates—”

“Teleport.”

The plan is simple.

“Locate Satan, touch him. No escape. And from this side… teleport the Hero.”

Splash.

“It’s a deadly technique adapted from the combat style usually used by the Hero wielding the Sword of Darkness.”

I had been caught by it before.

 

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