Astaire bit his lip as he listened to Dike’s approaching footsteps.
‘So she noticed after all.’
Before stepping into the portal, he had put the key he used back in its place and closed the cabinet, just in case.
But since he had to go inside the cabinet to use the portal, he couldn’t lock it.
If the cabinet’s owner had been careless, they might have thought they themselves had simply forgotten to lock it. But meticulous Dike had noticed right away.
With nowhere to run or hide, Astaire finally stepped out before her.
The eyes with which he looked at her were no longer those of a loyal subordinate.
They revealed an unhidden hostility and distrust.
“…There is something I’d like to ask first.”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“The monster eggs you just threw into the dimensional rift—do they become the monsters that emerge from it?”
“That’s right.”
Dike showed no intent to deny her crime, agreeing readily. She even looked proud, as if it were the right thing to do.
Astaire’s face twisted.
“Why would you do such a thing?”
“Everything I do is for this world.”
“Hiding the fact that you could still wield the Holy Sword—was that also for the same reason?”
Dike nodded.
“If I step forward, the evils of this world disappear too quickly.”
“…And if the villains disappear, the Holy Nation’s prestige falls with them?”
At Astaire’s question, Dike burst into laughter, as if he had just told her a joke.
Her clear laughter rang eerily through the dark basement.
“Do you really think I’d go this far just for my own prestige?”
Astaire didn’t know what her true aim was. He only looked at her with uneasy eyes.
“Astaire, humans are truly devious.”
Her voice, as she continued, was gentle and soft—like teaching a child.
“Brothers may fight over the throne, but when war breaks out between nations, they join forces to defeat the common enemy. Then, once peace returns, they fight again to steal from each other.”
When she slew the Demon God, the subordinate who had once fought back-to-back with her turned on her in peace, trying to kill her to steal her power.
The king of Eurion, gifted the fruits of peace, invaded other nations to claim more.
Watching all this, Dike realized:
‘Perhaps by killing the Demon God, I was the one who shattered the balance of peace among humans.’
Maybe the gods had created her to restore that balance.
“The gods created humans to help one another, to love, to cherish… Yet they lust for what others have, covet it, and bring about destruction. Truly pitiful.”
Her calm voice carried a genuine sorrow.
“Humans need a common enemy. A powerful foe they can only face by trusting each other, depending on each other, and uniting together.”
Only then did Astaire grasp Dike’s true goal.
Unlike Elsez’s suspicion—that Dike had hidden the truth about the Demon God and Elsez’s identity for the Holy Nation’s authority and her own reputation—the real reason was…
Peace for the world.
“…Do you really believe your insane actions have brought peace to this world?”
“Just as I thought, haven’t these past centuries been peaceful? No greed for one another’s possessions, no wars. Only trust and cooperation.”
Dike held out her hand to him.
“Join me in keeping the balance of this world, in protecting peace, Astaire. As we’ve always done.”
Astaire gave a bitter laugh of disbelief as he looked at her hand.
Then, glaring at her with icy eyes, he spat out his words.
“That’s not peace. That’s just everyone dancing on the strings of a mad tyrant.”
Dike stared at him for a moment, then her face twisted sadly.
“What a pity. If no one else, I thought at least you, Astaire, would understand me.”
Murmuring so, she lifted the Holy Sword and advanced toward him.
10. The Reason We Must Protect This World
“…Huh?”
Reti woke up and looked all around the room, tilting her head.
Elsez was gone.
“Human, you left me behind again!”
Jumping up angrily, Reti noticed a plate piled high with cookies and a note from Elsez placed beside her.
「Reti.
You were sleeping, so I didn’t wake you.
I’ll buy cookies and candy on the way back. Don’t worry and rest.」
Though she didn’t like being left behind, her heart softened at the words “cookies and candy.”
Thinking about the cookies and candy Elsez would bring back, she felt like she could endure, even if she was a little scared.
‘If it comes down to it, I can always use mind transfer.’
Thinking so, Reti shoved all the cookies on the plate into Azirang.
Then, flopping down at the desk, she grabbed a quill and began studying numbers.
‘When I get back to my real body, I’ll need to know numbers.’
That way she could figure out how many cookies she could buy with her money!
But after scribbling curly numbers for a while, Reti quickly lost interest and went to the window.
Studying really wasn’t her thing.
Just then, she noticed paladins rushing about outside.
From their expressions, it was clear something serious was going on.
‘What’s happening?’
As Reti wondered, the sound of a key turning came from the door, and suddenly paladins burst inside.
“Search the Demon Lord’s room from top to bottom! Report anything suspicious at once.”
At their words, Reti’s heart dropped.
‘How did they find out Elsez is the Demon Lord?’
She couldn’t tell exactly what was happening, but one thing was clear—the situation wasn’t good for Elsez.
Watching in shock as the paladins ransacked Elsez’s room, Reti tried to use mind transfer to reach him.
But…
‘Huh?’
It didn’t work.
‘F-for now, I’ll pretend to be a doll.’
Sweat trickled down her face as she saw a paladin approaching her.
The paladin came to the desk where Reti sat and suddenly shouted after spotting something.
“Here! I found suspicious code!”
What he pointed at were the numbers Reti had just been scribbling.
‘That’s just numbers though…’
The paladins examined the curly digits with grave expressions, then took them away, saying they would decode them.
Thankfully, they seemed to have no interest in Reti herself.
After leaving the room in shambles, the paladins left with nothing but her scribbles.
‘Is that… a relief?’
But it was too soon to relax.
Reti tried mind transfer again, but just like before, it didn’t work.
‘I have to find the human!’
She jumped out the window and ran.
But she had no idea where to go.
‘He said he was buying cookies… maybe he went to the festival?’
She remembered Elsez saying today was a festival day, though she didn’t know exactly what it was celebrating. With that, she headed toward the temple exit.
Since she had walked around outside with Elsez before, she remembered the roads roughly.
As Reti scurried along, trying to avoid notice, she suddenly heard a familiar voice behind her.
“Bunny!”
At the same time, a pair of hands scooped her up from behind.
“Human kid…?”
It was Noel.
Without giving her a chance to protest, Noel quickly stuffed Reti under his clothes to hide her.
“W-what are you doing?”
“Shh! If people see you now, they’ll try to take you away.”
Noel had been on his way back to the temple, escaping the monsters that had poured out when a dimensional rift suddenly opened during the fireworks.
Just as he was about to return to his room, he had spotted Reti’s familiar figure and followed her.
He still remembered how the townsfolk had treated Reti with hostility just because she was a “monster.”
Holding Reti hidden, Noel hurried toward a place without people.
Realizing Noel was protecting her, Reti asked,
“…You don’t hate me?”
“Nope. You’re a kind monster.”
“What about Elsez? Aren’t you scared, even though they said he’s a villain?”
“My sister told me there are good people and bad people, so there must be good monsters and bad monsters too. So your sister is a kind villain.”
A kind villain? That sounded as strange as a warm iced drink. But Reti didn’t dislike that odd reasoning.
“Until your sister comes back, I’ll protect you!”
Reti stared at Noel as he said that.
His eyes sparkled as he spoke.
Just like Elsez’s eyes had, when he once promised to be on her side.
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