On the other side of the long wall that runs all the way to the horizon, there’s a flash of light as if the sun has set.

  Slowly, Aileen steps away from the telescope and returns to the small, round table that’s been set out on deck. When she settles back into her chair, her brilliant lady-in-waiting promptly gives her a lap blanket.

  “Master Claude has made it in time. We’ve won.”

  “Congratulations.” Rachel pours her more hot tea.

  “Being a disinterested spectator requires serious mental fortitude, doesn’t it?”

  “As you are the shadow commander in chief, you mustn’t act recklessly.”

  “I know… If only I still had the sacred sword, I wouldn’t have asked for Lady Lilia’s advice.”

  “There, you see? It’s just as I said. Aren’t you glad you went?

  “Oh, come on. Don’t be angry, Lady Aileen. I’ll answer properly. Now tell me what happened!

  “Huh? I don’t even know why you think you’ve got trouble. I mean, the red-eyed demon can go back to being human. He just has to regain his sanity. He didn’t go back that time because he steeled himself to be killed as a demon.

  “Honestly, you really should check the game’s rules properly before going into a fight.”

  Lilia was right, of course. The game never mentioned that the demons of Kilvas were former humans. That meant it also never said they can’t change back.

  On top of that, Vica had become the red-eyed demon and returned to being human several times before.

  As one would imagine, the great former player who’d weaponized her knowledge of the game to toy with reality noticed many things. Frankly, Aileen is vexed. Here she’s been thinking timid things about how she’d need the sacred sword to solve this.

  “However, Lady Aileen, everyone is glad you do not have the sacred sword. Things would be much more complicated if you did. Besides, it’s nice for a change to take over after everyone else has worked hard, isn’t it?”

  “True. I can’t fight the same way forever.”

  The sacred sword may be gone, but that doesn’t mean the responsibility she’s accumulated has vanished.

  “Are we all ready to welcome Master Vica?”

  “Of course, Your Majesty. Lady Serena has made a private arrangement with the principal consort of Ashmael, and Grand Duchess Levi is working to provide both sacred and magic items. Depending on the situation, we may have them dispatch the Daughter of God as well. If Master Vica’s form makes it difficult to keep him in Ellmeyer’s capital, we plan to prepare residences in the grand duchy of Levi and the Revanche County. Ashmael says they will also cooperate by increasing production of the demon-snuff antidote. There’s a demon-snuff expert over there who rivals Luc.”

  “Thank you. I really can’t do a thing. I’m completely reliant on others.” Aileen gives a deliberate sigh.

  Rachel responds primly, “Quite true. I pity Empress Diana and Princess Cattleya.”

  My wife probably thinks we’ve already won. Claude sighs.

  I’m the one who’s about to head over there and win, you know?

  Granted, he doesn’t intend to lose.

  Claude has transformed into a dragon. Even when the demon king gazes at Vica with his deep-purple eyes, Vica doesn’t flinch. He overtakes the other frightened demons and lunges at Claude. He’s instinctively protecting the other demons.

  Ah yes, he really is the demon king. The thoughts and actions that bleed over from his instincts are exactly like Claude’s.

  The demons adore him, and he loves them. However, he can’t completely hate humans, either, and is unable to become fully human or demon. Most demon kings probably know that agony.

  That said, Claude can’t have him ending that way.

  All right. If it were me, what would I have to remember in order to go back? What if Aileen called me a monster and rejected me? What then?

  Vica sinks his teeth into Claude’s neck, and Claude bats him off with his tail. Claude is larger, but his opponent is more agile. Vica flips, righting himself, then begins to circle Claude.

  “Are…you sure…about this?”

  Maybe because he’s in his right mind, Claude finds he’s able to speak. I suppose I would be, Claude thinks after he’s spoken. Almond and the others talk, so why wouldn’t the demon king be able to?

  Yes, Claude is sure hearing this would have snapped his old self out of it.

  “I’m going…to save…your wife.”

  Vica’s red eyes waver unsteadily. He howls, firing another blast of magic at Claude. He’s flustered and hasn’t taken aim, though. There’s no way an attack like that would hit Claude.

  Claude soars high into the sky. He punches through the clouds, then flips and plunges back down, making gravity his ally.

  He said, “Save my sister.”

  Claude thought it was odd that Vica hadn’t said wife. It was possible that Vica had no feelings for her, and his sister was the one who mattered. Even so, something seemed off.

  Claude wouldn’t have left the woman who was most precious to him to another man.

  Why are you giving up?

  Monster. What’s wrong with that? All he has to do is convince the woman he loves that it doesn’t matter…

  As Claude falls, Vica looks up at him, and their eyes meet. Then Claude’s forehead collides with Vica’s face. In an additional blow, Claude spits a magic light ray from his mouth. At point-blank range, Vica can’t dodge.

  Light falls from the sky to the ground.

  The two have torn up the earth in their fall, and their huge bodies send up a great cloud of dust. The figure who rises to his feet in the center of that cloud is human.

  “You’d hate that, wouldn’t you? If some other man saved her. If she were happy.”

  If Vica doesn’t go back to being human, it won’t just mean letting her go. He’ll end up giving her to someone else. It’s a perfectly natural fact, and it must have occurred to him.

  Vica has regained his human shape.

  You tried to end things cleanly, and that’s exactly how they ended up so messy and half-finished. If the other option is allowing her to find happiness with someone else, then you don’t mind if you’re a monster. You know that’s where it really starts.

  “Hurry and grow up.”

  As he tries to help Vica up, Claude notices a major problem.

  This happens every time. Claude is stark naked.

  Almond and the others are used to it, though, and they promptly bring blankets and clothing.

  Something’s not right.

  Diana looks at the clock. The appointed time is long past, and yet not a glimpse of the demon horde is visible from the capital’s ramparts.

  Has something gone awry?

  The first report reached the capital without issue. The Valkyries who abandoned Irena’s unit have also returned safely. Demon snuff has been stocked at all strategic points. She’s checked multiple times.

  And yet the demons haven’t appeared.

  Even if Irena’s unit fought desperately and valiantly, there’s no chance they could have held out for this long.

  Gradually, bewilderment spreads among the Valkyries up on the ramparts. It isn’t possible to stay tense forever. They’re beginning to suspect that, if the demons aren’t coming, the report that they broke through the wall may be wrong.

  That’s not possible.

  Diana broke the wall’s spell in the capital. She left Vica beyond that wall. He still had his human form, barely, but it would have been only a matter of time. The demons who began to gather as if they were trying to protect him confirmed it. They saved her the trouble of figuring out where to sow demon snuff on that side of the wall.

  “…Diana, let’s send out another scouting party,” Cattleya suggests.

  Diana nods. At first, Cattleya calmly suggested waiting a while, but even her expression has turned grim.

  “Lady Diana, look! Aren’t those Valkyries…?” One of the Valkyries who’s been keeping watch nearby points out the dim shapes of horses and riders. Cattleya leans over the rampart slightly to look, and then the color drains from her face. Diana goes to stand beside her.

  The Valkyries’ physical abilities have been enhanced, and when she strains her eyes, she can make out the mounted figure at the head of the group… She can’t believe what she’s seeing, though. Stunned, Diana murmurs, “…Irena.”

  Confusion races through the Valkyries who know what’s really going on. Diana and Cattleya are no exception. They didn’t even have magic lances, so how…? What about the demons?! They can’t have stopped them, can they?!

  “We’ve returned victorious! Open the gates!”

  While Diana and her Valkyries stand there petrified, Irena’s unit comes close enough that their shouts are audible. In response to the bold demand, Diana steps forward. “Don’t be ridiculous. The demons are coming!”

  “Oh, are they? From where, hmm? We came all the way back here from the wall, but we saw nothing of the sort. Are you sure the report wasn’t wrong? Still, looks like you’re heavily geared up there. Have you been armed to the teeth all this time, waiting for imaginary demons? That seems like a lot of trouble.”

  She’s laughed at them, and the Valkyries exchange glances. If they’ve mobilized their forces and stood guard on top of the ramparts, declaring loudly that they’re going to defend the imperial capital, and then the demons never show up, they’ll look completely ridiculous.

  But that can’t possibly happen.

  “…Irena, I’m glad you’re safe,” Cattleya begins. Her tone is calm, but her expression isn’t as tranquil as usual. “The wall has been breached by rampaging demons. We’ve confirmed as much.”

  “Yes, that’s right. And as I said, we’ve returned victorious.”

  Cattleya falls silent. Irena is alive, and she’s talking about having “returned victorious.” Putting those two facts together, Diana screams, “That’s nonsense. It can’t possibly be true!”

  “It’s true.”

  Another unexpected figure appears. Ernst. Before she can shout, Why?!, his loud, carrying voice echoes over the ramparts. “Valkyries! Through the efforts of His Majesty, with the aid of the emperor of Ellmeyer, the demons have been driven back! Have no fear: The demons of Kilvas are now under His Majesty’s command!”

  “Huh—excuse me?! He turned into a demon—,” Diana tries to retort, but Ernst raises his voice, drowning her out.

  “Citizens of the empire, listen to me! Within our borders, Hausel abused the Valkyrie surgery. In their foolishness, they were researching how to change humans into demons! Some who would continue that practice for their own ends still lurk among us!”

  The citizens of the capital, who have been hiding in fear of the approaching demons, begin coming out to see what’s going on. Diana had them gather near the wall in the first place so they’d be sure to witness the Valkyries’ valor in combat, and it’s backfired on her.

  “We must not allow the Valkyries’ inhumane surgery, or the technology that would make humans and demons fight each other, to exist in this world!”

  Inhumane surgery. Those words make Diana want to shout another retort at him, but before she can, Cattleya turns on her heel.

  “In the name of Vica Tsar Kilvas, I, Prime Minister Ernst Helken Dolf, hereby make a declaration. From this day on, Kilvas has no ties to the Queendom of Hausel. We will not let this tragedy be repeated. We will bring true independence and peace to our empire!”

  Diana and her Valkyries were supposed to be the ones to say those words. At this point, though, it doesn’t matter.

  Cattleya.

  Turning her back on the citizens’ cheers, Diana sets off running in pursuit of her one supporter and friend.

  Is it a farewell, or is this their true reunion? There are some things even the demon king doesn’t know.

  It’s evening. In a situation that’s the inverse of their first meeting, intense, bloodred light from the setting sun streams into the emperor’s private chambers when Cattleya enters by herself.

  “…Splendid work, Master Claude. That was your doing, wasn’t it?”

  “You give me too much credit. I only stood in for Vica.”

  Claude seats himself in a chair, receiving Cattleya as if he’s granting an audience.

  Perhaps she ran here. Her hair is uncharacteristically disheveled, and it gleams in the evening light. “Vica is alive?”

  “I hear he was discovered in Hausel. He doesn’t seem to be quite himself yet, so I recommended he convalesce in Ellmeyer. As it happens, my wife had just reached Hausel by ship. We considered having him return in triumph with us, but I had qualms about dropping my battered, bruised cousin into a political situation like this one. In another month or two, he’ll be fully healed and able to switch with me. Why don’t we say that’s how we intended it all along?”

  Cattleya has listened to Claude’s made-up story in silence, but when he issues a very familiar-sounding invitation, she frowns. “You can’t mean… You’re going to show us mercy?”

  “Not me. Vica asked me to save his sister.”

  She just needs to take the hand her brother has extended to her. Claude hopes she will.

  “…What will you do about the fact that we broke the wall?”

  “Hausel fell only recently. It’s only natural various problems will crop up. Besides, if Vica is here, the demons of Kilvas won’t rampage anymore. They’ll obey him. From now on, the wall will probably mark the boundary between the areas where demons and humans live.”

  “Many Valkyries were involved in this, and yet you won’t conduct a purge or silence them?”

  “If you and the empress help us, it won’t be impossible. Vica should agree to it as well.”

  “But the empire will consider the Valkyries useless now.” On the other hand, she’s resigned herself to it. Cattleya gazes quietly back at Claude. “Has something you believed was right ever been abruptly turned upside down? Have you ever felt the futility and anger of realizing all your efforts and your choices up to that point were mistaken? If, on top of that, you managed to discern the correct answer, the one you must choose, what would you do?”

  “…Is having the Valkyries continue on as they’ve always done your ‘right answer’?”

  Cattleya’s only response is a smile.

  Claude no longer knows whether that smile is real or fake.

  “Master Claude, I never underestimated you. The fact that this is the result anyway is probably because I am soft. I can no longer laugh at Vica and Ernst for being naive and knowing nothing. However, please remember this will not happen again.”

  “I would like you to be happy.” The words slip out unintentionally. It’s what he genuinely thinks. She just lets them lie there, though. The woman’s cold eyes drill into Claude, memories and all.

  “…You were the last person I wanted to hear that from. That irresponsible male excuse. ‘I want you to be happy.’”

  If it isn’t Let’s both be happy or I’ll make you happy, it’s better not to say anything at all. He should just let it stay a lovely memory. After all, Claude hasn’t chosen her.

  He’s spoken carelessly. Her criticism is entirely correct.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t join your side.”

  Cattleya smiles gently, then bows and turns to go. She doesn’t look back.

  Feeling that he’s become a terribly pathetic man, Claude heaves a long, deep sigh.

  “My, are you depressed?”

  With a start, he jumps to his feet and turns around. His wife is standing there, beaming. Elefas is behind her. They clearly teleported.

  “Um… I thought we should wait until things had settled down a bit more, but Lady Aileen said it had to be now and wouldn’t back down, so yes. She is the shadow commander in chief, after all, as you yourself acknowledged…” Eyes averted, his mage immediately makes excuses. He falls silent when Claude glares at him, though.

  “She probably told you you’d be able to learn my weakness.”

  “I’m impressed you knew. That’s just like you, Master Claude.”

  “Look forward to a salary revision when I return to Ellmeyer.”

  “No, please wait. It’s all a misunderstanding!”

  “That’s right, Master Claude. What weakness are you referring to? I’d assumed you were viciously using that face of yours to deceive women, and yet… What a pity.”

  As one would expect, it takes Claude a little courage to look his wife in the eye. He mustn’t run, though.

  His wife giggles triumphantly, her fingertips pressed to her lips. It’s a first-rate villainous smile, the sort that makes even the demon king feel like fleeing.

  “You overlooked her misdeeds, didn’t you? You’re so kind to your cousin.”

  She absolutely knows. The sarcasm is horrendous, almost like she’s been waiting for this exact moment.

  He doesn’t ask foolish questions like Why? or Where? or How long? Women are frightening.

  The only thing he needs to understand is that he can no longer criticize his wife’s way of doing things with regard to Cattleya.

  “Poor Master Claude. I’ll avenge you next time.”

  “…In moderation, please.”

  He never dreamed he would end up granting Vica’s wish here.

  “Goodness, I really don’t know… It all depends on your attitude, Master Claude.” She chuckles, staring at her husband in a way that makes her eyes narrow. She’s absolutely enjoying herself. This is bad.

  His wife manipulated everything from behind the scenes. In order to make sure she doesn’t manipulate him, he reaches out to touch her cheek. “Please forgive me, Aileen. You’re the only one who does.”

  Then he flashes a smile that would make the entire world swoon. His face is power.

  However, abruptly, his wife looks as if she’s awakened from a dream. Inconceivable, Claude thinks, stunned.