Chapter 173

“T-that’s not yet!”

I came to my senses belatedly at the words “public love affair,” and pushed Meyer hard.

He was a human being who would not have been pushed if he had remained in his original strength, but he was pushed like a fallen leaf by my hand.

Meyer, who had honestly let me go, shouted loudly in frustration.

“What do you mean not yet? Why not? You said we could date after defeating the Demon King!”

“The stability of the empire comes first.”

I said sternly.

That’s right. It’s still too early to relax.

In fact, the perception of the surrounding area was not a particular problem. After defeating the Demon King, all that remained were administrative and political problems.

It would have been more helpful for political stability if we had announced our dating sooner.

But the biggest problem was that if we went straight into a romance, the reaction to the strictness of the relationship so far might be that the two of us would be close for 365 days a year alone.

That’s why I put Meyer on hold in the first place……!

That was not good enough for me, even though I still had a mountain of unresolved work to do.

I have to take inertia and elasticity and get the accumulated work done while it’s getting tough once anyway…!

I couldn’t trust myself and that much more I couldn’t trust Meyer, I assured myself.

“There’s a lot to worry about and a lot to do to build a new empire. Dating after that.”

Meyer seemed to have a lot of things to refute my one-sided decision, but I didn’t listen and turned my head.

Then I smiled broadly and said to the other expedition members.

“Now, everyone. Please keep what you just saw confidential to the outside world for the moment.”

Perhaps I was being too brazen, the expressions of the trio, Axion, and August looking at me were unusual.

Sevi asked poutingly, opening his swollen eyes in a triangle and looking up at me.

“Is that all you have to say for the first time since you died…?”

“She’s the Vice Commander.”

Nova added with a sigh. Julieta also began to cry. Resentment dribbled down her eyes.

“You didn’t even think about how nervous we were…”

“I didn’t expect the day to come when I sympathize with your feelings in my life…”

No, even August…

They all attacked me with their mouths. I limped along and made excuses for my bombshell.

“No, I’m alive…”

“You were dead! You lied to me! You’re a liar!”

Sevi stomped his foot gallantly. He felt terribly angry and mad.

Maybe… More than Meyer.

I sneaked a glance at Sevi and soothed him gently.

“Sevi, are you mad at me? Hm? Because we didn’t have much time to talk.”

“Hmph! I won’t believe you anymore, Vice Commander.”

Sevi folded his arms and turned away sulking.

The crime against Sevi was great. I died like that, and his childhood was damaged a lot….

I, the sinner, was at a loss to calm him down.

“I’m sorry, so as soon as I get to the capital, I’ll ask the Emperor to change your name.”

“…”

“Gale Destr… What was it? Anyway, that.”

“… Gale Destoyer”

Sevi, who had been silent for a long time, replied coyly.

I was grateful for the sign of forgiveness that he had given me, so I hugged the three musketeers, including Sevi.

“Excuse me, Vice Commander… Then my title is….”

Nova, who had been watching my face, cautiously started to say something, but unfortunately, the words were buried and lost in the sound of the pack that came from Sevi, whom I embraced.

***

It wasn’t long before a crowd of people rushed toward us.

At the very front of the line was Anasta, who had returned to April.

I didn’t break the transformation spell on her until the very end, but it seemed to automatically break when I died.

“I thought you were dead!”

As soon as Anasta saw me, she jumped off her horse, ran over and smoothed my face, and burst into tears.

I patted her on the back, hugging Anasta who dug into my arms.

“I’m sorry. Were you surprised?”

“As long as you didn’t die. Seriously, how much do I…”

Anasta was in tears. Her blue eyes were watery as if she had cried for some time after coming this far.

Behind Anasta, the trio glanced at each other. They seemed to be looking at when it would be good to say that I really died and fro.

I frowned and gave a quick look to keep their mouths shut.

Everyone was supposed to be busy, but for no reason, they were just confused.

Anasta asked naturally.

“The transformation spell has been broken… what do I do now?”

Continue to live as Anasta, or go back to April. Either way, I was going to support her opinion.

Anasta shook her head slowly, wiping away tears.

“Just before I came here, I heard that Deca was dead. Maybe he was trying to see the end of Fabian…”

Anasta had no doubt that Deca and herself were responsible for Fabian’s betrayal.

They were the first to consider Fabian a hero, so of course, they had to solve the problem themselves to bring him out of it.

Perhaps that is why. A bitter yet somehow refreshing smile appeared on her face when she heard the news of her old colleague’s death.

“The difference between Deca and Fabian is not that big, so Fabian must be dead somewhere, too. So you don’t have to change your face and avoid him anymore.”

I was envious of the word that Fabian did not die, but crawled to the Demon King’s Castle dungeon and finally became the Demon King.

But even if Anasta heard it, the evaluation of Fabian, which has already hit rock bottom, will only fall further into the mud.

Of course, it was none of my business what Fabian’s reputation would be, but it could lead to a dislike of Anasta herself, who believed and followed such a person, even for a time.

Knowing just as much as anyone else about psychology, I kept my mouth shut.

Perhaps understanding my feelings, the others also refrained from talking about the specifics of what had happened in the Demon World.

Anasta added with a soft laugh.

“So I don’t think I need to do any more transformation magic. But… I will continue to live as Anasta.”

“If Anasta’s determination is like that.”

I nodded. After that, she would continue to live as Anasta. The name I had given her and the name she had chosen for herself.

A step behind, Robur, Tragula, and the Red Wolf unit arrived.

They didn’t look good either. Stained with dust and blood, I could feel the traces of fierce battle.

Upon discovering us, Robur’s face contorted. A demon had caught her, and her left eye was long torn.

“The great Ragatan!”

Robur cried out for her god and embraced the trio.

The trios’ faces turned pale with muscle strength that was incomparable to mine.

“W-Wait a minute, Robur!”

“St. Marianne’s face just glistened once again…”

Laughing at the children’s exaggeration, she loosened her arms. Then, she tapped the children’s shoulders with the palm of her hand and shook her head.

“As expected, I trusted your skills. I didn’t expect everyone to come back alive like this!”

“That sounds like the reaction of someone who didn’t think we were going to come out of this alive.”

Sevi grumbled as he stroked his neck. Finally, Robur, who saw Sevi’s face belatedly, asked in surprise.

“Sevi. What’s wrong with your eyes? Did you cry?”

“… I didn’t cry!”

Sevi exclaimed loudly. No matter how many flippers he held out, it was written on his face that he cried out loudly, so Robur couldn’t believe it.

Robur smiled widely and lightly patted Sevi on the back.

“You can cry on such a good day! Everyone is unscathed!”

“Sister, I’m not unscathed.”

Axion, who was listening, added a word. It wasn’t wrong. Since August had not been able to do healing magic after the second half of the Demon King’s war, everyone has been limping or unable to do something.

Rather, Meyer and I, who survived, were the most unscathed.

Robur snorted at Axion as if he were making an unnecessary exaggeration.

“All wizards have thorns in their mouths if you don’t tell them otherwise. If you have that level of energy, you’re as unscathed as you can get.”

As long as there was healing magic, all wounds that were not so bad would be treated, so everyone could loosen up somewhat on their injuries. It was painful, though.

We were genuinely happy to see each other alive, as both inside and outside the dungeon were decisive battlegrounds.

Julieta lifted her wrist with a shy smile.

“It must be thanks to Robur’s protection.”

Juliet’s arm had a thread bracelet hanging narrowly.

Dusk and bloodstained… I could feel how hard it was.

“It’s a relief… that all seven of you are alive.”

Tragula, who had hesitated for a while, still said it.

He seemed to wonder for a while whether he, who had been strangely vacillating even within the Black Knights, was allowed to say such a thing.

Meyer was the first to respond to Tragula.

“… You must have had a hard time, too.”

And wasn’t it Meyer who didn’t take kindly to Tragula?

I was surprised because I didn’t know he would say that, but I wasn’t the only one surprised.

Began whispered to me.

“Could it be that His Excellency… died and came back to life? Why is he doing things that he usually doesn’t?”

“…”