“I searched for a long time.”
“Ugh······.”
*Drip. Drip.*
With his whole body soaking wet, the traveler stepped barefoot on the floor.
The sound of someone disturbed from their deep slumber echoed loudly as it rolled down the walls.
Alexia, who was sprawled on a fluffy bed, lifted her eye mask to glance at the traveler before turning her back and lying down again.
“If you’re hiding here, no one can find you.”
“It’s no use telling someone who came looking! It’s not credible!”
“Hahaha. I sensed a faint aura of authority and searched this area entirely.”
Knowing Alexia’s aura for over a thousand years, the traveler was able to perceive it, albeit vaguely.
Yet no matter how thoroughly he searched, not even the tips of her hair were in sight.
The traveler concluded that it was clear Alexia had gone into hiding in a place where no one lived.
But given Alexia’s personality, she wouldn’t have hidden away in a dark, stinky cave or deep in the mountains.
Having been worn down by life in the human world, she could no longer even sleep without the comforts of civilization.
So after even diving into the sea, he finally found her here, in an underwater cave.
Even though it was a cave, the air wasn’t very humid, and the ceiling sparkled with various colors, illuminating the interior brightly.
How on earth did he find a place like this?
With a gasp of admiration, the traveler surveyed the high ceiling and vast space.
“Hey! Over there! There’s a foot towel, so wipe your feet before coming in! I hate a wet floor!”
“Looks like you’ve set up quite the living space.”
“Of course! It seems this will be my place for the next few hundred years!”
“Alexia, let’s go.”
“······Zzz.”
Alexia’s retort stopped.
And then she pretended to snore, making noise on purpose.
The traveler sighed deeply and sat in a chair in front of the bookshelf.
The bookshelf was filled with unfamiliar books.
Even a traveler unfamiliar with human literature could tell that the books surpassed exotic levels.
“Hamlet······. Othello······. What strange names.”
“Of course! Those are from another dimension······ Huh?!”
“I think I just heard something.”
“It’s probably just your imagination! Maybe!”
Alexia had let slip a mistake.
While he had his suspicions, it turned out to be true.
These books came from an alien, different dimension.
The traveler quickly skimmed through the pages, one by one, and was left amazed with his mouth agape.
“They seem somewhat similar to our world but also different. Culturally, there appear to be many shared aspects, yet there are too many differences. And it seems magic doesn’t exist.”
“Could you put that back?! It’s about to get dark!”
“Such a hassle······.”
Once the traveler returned the books to their place, he carried the chair in front of the bed where Alexia was lying.
A little lamp that seemed indifferent to his presence was facing this way.
The traveler hardened his expression and sat in the chair, parting his lips.
“It’s quite a nice hideout, but I don’t think Schlus Hainkel would overlook it.”
“I didn’t ask for your evaluation······.”
“Schlus Hainkel will definitely come. Don’t say he won’t because he’s nice. You tend to think too romantically-”
“I know! Schlus Hainkel is more thorough than anyone! He will definitely come to take my powers! I know! Do you think I’m an idiot?!”
“So you’ll just hand it over without putting up any resistance? Are you going to watch while a flawed human gains omnipotent power, even as you fall with a body no different from theirs?”
“······.”
*Crunch.*
Alexia chewed on her lips, ignoring the traveler’s words.
No, she was trying to ignore them.
“What am I supposed to do?! You stupid magician! And Tiltitz too! I never thought you would be like this! Anyway, you too! If you realized this war is meaningless, you should know when to stop! What’s everyone doing like fools?!”
“······.”
Under Alexia’s sudden tirade, the traveler hung his head low.
It was a painful remark.
Continuing a war that began without meaning and heading towards a senseless end.
At first, the traveler couldn’t believe how foolish Tiltitz could seem.
But now, the traveler was participating in surprise attacks, leading the war alone since Tiltitz’s death.
He could understand Tiltitz’s feelings a bit now.
Even knowing it was a foolish and stupid war, they couldn’t put an end to it.
It was ugly and self-hatred-inducing, but they had no choice for survival.
And that applied to Alexia too.
Just because she hadn’t entered the battlefield alone didn’t mean she could turn her back and escape the issue.
“We have to win. You know that.”
“I don’t know!”
“Then cut it straight here. Declare that you’ll never fight on the side of the Majin. If Schlus comes, you’ll obediently hand over your powers. If you swear, I won’t bother you anymore, and I’ll leave.”
“······.”
“How long will you turn a blind eye?”
“No······! This is too much! They started a war based on misunderstandings! And now they want me to fight and do ugly things just because I want to live! Given the odds, that’s enough!”
The Majin side no longer had a chance.
That was common knowledge.
The authority that Schlus Hainkel possessed was equal to the combined powers of Alexia and the traveler.
Theoretically, Schlus Hainkel had the strength of two Majins.
So even if Alexia joined the fight, without successfully mounting a surprise attack, there would be no chance of victory.
Almost all of the human forces, the Asylum, were on the verge of annihilation and surrendering one after another.
“If there was a chance, what would you do?”
“Huh?”
Alexia turned her body.
Looking at the surprised traveler, Alexia could see the certainty in his eyes.
The traveler wasn’t speaking lies.
“Are you trying to sweet-talk me with empty flattery?!”
“Can’t I judge after I hear you out? What about those books? They can’t be everything, right?”
“Yes! That’s right! There are probably thousands or even tens of thousands of books like that across the continent!”
Just these books here filled two or three shelves.
If all the interdimensional books found across the continent were gathered in one place, it could easily fill a small mansion.
“Is it even possible to pour such a large mass across dimensions?”
“It’s not impossible! In the world of another dimension! It seems the unique Majin has been born, gathering the powers of the Majin in one place!”
“No. Even being the unique Majin, it would only temporarily tear crossing the dimension. It’s impossible to send this quantity.”
Even with the complete authority of the Majin.
Those who obtained it were said to gain omnipotent power, but to be precise, that was only omnipotent within this world.
Even with powers close to that of a god, crossing dimensions to another world was impossible.
So what were these books?
Who could possibly play such tricks?
“What are you trying to say?!”
“It seems there is an absolute being existing in our higher dimension.”
“······.”
An absolute being.
A god, or someone with comparable powers.
At least it was certain that there was an entity with the ability to freely cross dimensions and move people and objects.
Durandal was one such proof.
Even if all the powers of the Majin combined could only briefly open a rift in dimensions, Durandal had the power to tear through dimensions repeatedly.
There was an absolute being who granted such unfathomable power.
That was the traveler’s conclusion.
“We can win, Alexia. There is a way. Can you trust me just once?”
“······.”
Alexia dramatically pulled down her eye mask, pulling the blanket over her face.
She didn’t want to talk anymore.
She thought she understood what the traveler meant by that “way.”
“And I found this in the northern mountains. It’ll be helpful.”
“······?”
The traveler placed the bag he had been carrying on his back in front of him.
By its shape, it seemed something long was inside.
As soon as it was placed on the ground, a dull sound followed, and Alexia was startled and turned around.
“I told you. There’s a way.”
*
Could it be too late?
Erica reflected on the past few days, unable to sleep, hugging her pillow tight.
Looking back, there had been numerous opportunities for realization.
It was herself that deceived her own feelings, deeming them all as delusions.
At first, she categorized Schlus as an entity to be hated, pushing him away. After the misunderstandings cleared, she pushed him away again because he was the guy Julia liked.
And now she wanted to stand next to Schlus.
It felt cowardly and pathetic even in her own mind.
“It’s late······. Really late······.”
In the end, Erica lagged far behind.
She yielded the lead to the maid girl she lived with, and also allowed Iris to surpass her, and even let Trie, who seemed totally unrelated to love, go ahead of her.
So now, what was Erica supposed to do?
Even when she asked herself, there was no answer.
No matter how much she thought about it, it seemed Schlus, who already had many wives, wouldn’t have a reason to choose her.
When Erica heard that Schlus had made a harem declaration, she was genuinely surprised.
To Erica, that declaration held another underlying meaning.
It felt like a declaration to halt recruitment.
Since the ones who have pledged were already overwhelming, it implied there wouldn’t be any more connections with women······.
Such a declaration it seemed to her.
Moreover, seeing Iris openly staying close to Schlus in front of students made her feel even more deflated.
She knew that if a latecomer didn’t race aggressively to catch up, it would be nearly impossible.
Yet, she couldn’t summon the courage.
“Schlus······.”
She was scared.
Scared of being rejected.
Scared of never being able to stand next to Schlus again.
If she couldn’t be his lover, shouldn’t she at least be satisfied standing by his side as a comrade?
Wasn’t she being too greedy?
-What’s up? Why did you contact me at this hour?
“······?!”
At that moment, a slightly hoarse voice flowed into her ears, startling Erica.
Only then did she realize that a communication magic spell had been deployed.
No one else had cast it.
This form was undoubtedly her own original spell.
-Hello? What’s up? Did I call the wrong number?
“It’s not a wrong number! It’s me, Schlus······. Erica······.”
Without a moment to ponder how she unconsciously deployed the spell, Erica had to reply hurriedly.
She didn’t want Schlus’s voice to be cut off.
Erica fidgeted, twirling a finger in her hair while thinking about how to carry the conversation forward.
-It’s been a long time since you called me. What’s up?
“Well, um, Schlus······.”
-Yeah?
“Did you just wake up? Your voice sounds groggy.”
-I was just doing some exercise. That’s probably why.
“Oh, oh. Exercise. I’ve started exercising lately too because I felt my vitality was too weak. Hahaha. What kind of exercise are you doing?”
-Right now? Mmm······ probably lower body.
“Mmhm, I see.”
Forcing a grin, Erica felt something was going wrong.
This wouldn’t do.
With a vague desire to hear Schlus’s voice just a bit longer, she clenched her fists tightly.
-I’m busy at the moment, so I’ll contact you again shortly…
“How about going out with me tomorrow? Like to an art museum or something!”
She blurted out impulsively.
Erica shut her eyes tightly, hitting her forehead.
There was no way busy Schlus would have the time for that.
-Sure. I have free time tomorrow too.
“What? Wait, really? You have time?”
-Why? Is there a problem?
“No······.”
There was a problem.
The problem was that her heart might burst from too much happiness.
It was this easy, so why hadn’t Erica ever mustered the courage to ask for a date before?
Scared of being rejected······.
“Then let’s meet in front of the city hall by 4 PM tomorrow! Bye! Sleep well!”
Erica hastily set up the appointment and then dispelled the spell.
It’s done. She made a date.
While suppressing her pounding heart, Erica squatted down and giggled.
She felt like she had the world in her hands.
