Time flew by too quickly.
At one moment, I found myself holding Erica’s hand and strolling through the dark alleys of the old town under the brightly shining sky.
The Erica who had been nervous and cautious when I first arrived was nowhere to be found; instead, the relaxed Erica, resting her head on my shoulder, was humming a tune.
I wanted to stop by somewhere else before heading home, but the atmosphere didn’t seem right, so I decided to escort her straight to the Lichtenburg Mansion.
The way back felt way too short.
“Um… Schlus…”
“Yeah?”
“Today… it wasn’t a dream, right?”
“Why? Should I make it seem like it never happened?”
“Ah, no?!”
“It wasn’t a dream. If you think you’ll forget, should I remind you again?”
“W-what?”
“I love you.”
Gently brushing her bangs aside and kissing her forehead made Erica’s face turn bright red in an instant.
“Then… goodbye! See you tomorrow! Tomorrow… at school…”
“Sure.”
Erica hurriedly waved goodbye and fled into the mansion.
Just as I was about to turn away, Madam Lichtenburg caught me.
She said she couldn’t trust my verbal promise.
She requested me to sign the document confirming my engagement with Erica, so I had no choice but to do it.
Now, there was no turning back.
I’ve reserved a spot as my fourth wife.
On the way home, I couldn’t help but feel cold sweat pouring down my body.
This was a secret I couldn’t keep.
If I told Emilia everything, she’d probably sulk for at least a month.
As soon as I got home, I spilled everything to Emilia.
Surprisingly, she didn’t get too angry or respond with a sharp tone.
“Hmmm. So what do you like about Erica so much?”
“Huh?”
In that moment, I sensed something was off.
It was definitely a major mistake.
The moment I stumbled over my words, I knew it would be even worse, so I struggled to choose my words carefully.
“Uh, no… I mean, I said it earlier. To counter the Poison of Flechette, we need to present Lichtenburg as a countermeasure. Whether I like it or not, the people connected to my marriage will have significant influence in the magic academy. That’s why I got engaged.”
“That’s not what we were talking about, brother. Why are you dodging the question?”
“Me? When did I do that?”
“Don’t keep trying to escape. It’s not a difficult question, brother. What do you like about Erica?”
“······.”
It was a tough question.
Aside from Erica’s attitude, there’s nothing bad about her.
These days, even that attitude has improved so much that she’s almost perfect.
Of course, that wasn’t a reason for the engagement.
No one sees a stunning beauty passing by and immediately thinks they want to marry her.
“Why do you take so long to think? You don’t have to overthink it. No matter what you say, I won’t get mad.”
“Ah. Really?”
“Of course. When have I ever opposed your decisions?”
“······.”
Seems like a lot.
There was a time when I was drugged into changing my decision completely.
Of course, I couldn’t say that in front of Emilia.
“I won’t get mad, right?”
“Yeah. I’m just curious.”
“Erica was really nervous the whole time; she was trembling a lot. So I figured today was a bust. I thought I wouldn’t hear Erica’s true feelings today. So I planned to cleanly cut ties. But at the restaurant, Erica was shaking and nearly crying as she told me she loved me. That trembling figure was so cute and lovely that I couldn’t help but…”
“You couldn’t help but?”
“Um… kiss her…”
“Wait, you kissed?”
“Yeah…”
“Hmmm. I see. A kiss. How sweet. You two are having a pretty love.”
“······?”
Emilia smiled and then quickly turned away.
It was an emergency.
She looked like she was really sulking.
Startled, I ran after her and grabbed her wrist.
“Emilia.”
“Yeah? What’s wrong?”
“I messed up.”
“What did you do wrong?”
“Well, but…”
“But what?”
“You’re mad.”
“I’m not mad!”
“······.”
This was the worst situation.
She was mad while smiling.
Emilia was definitely at the highest level of sulking.
If it continued like this, she’d refuse to kiss for a month and even serve me slim meals.
“I need to clean. Let go.”
“······.”
Without a word, I hugged Emilia from behind.
At first, she resisted, but soon relaxed and leaned against me.
We stayed that way for a while.
I buried my nose in Emilia’s braided hair and savored her scent.
She seemed to be ticklish and shivered, pulling her lips away.
“Brother, I was going to give this to you later… but I can’t hold back.”
“Yeah?”
Emilia secretly pulled something from her pocket.
It was a thick metal ring.
It was a bit too large to wear casually.
I hadn’t noticed until now, but upon closer inspection, I recognized it as an artifact containing a magic spell.
“This is… actually… I meant to give it to you when I die…”
“When you die? How long were you planning to wait?”
“I don’t know. Just take it.”
She bluntly handed it over, and I took the artifact.
The moment my finger touched it, a sizzling sound echoed, and the spell started to activate.
So this is an artifact that activates when it detects my mana.
I was amazed at how delicately it was crafted.
“Ah…”
Light burst forth, and images unfolded in the air.
Moments spent with Emilia filled my field of vision, moving as if they were alive.
Emilia’s sweet voice tickled my ears from all around.
That’s not all.
If I brought my nose closer to the artifact, I could faintly smell Emilia’s scent.
“Brother, you won’t change your mind, right? You’re so stubborn… I thought about how I could make you remember me after I’m gone. This seemed like the best idea. It’s semi-permanent, so unless you break it on purpose, it won’t break. I hope you remember me when you see, hear, and smell this. I wish for you to recall the me that cheered you on and regain your initial resolve when you feel like giving up.”
“Emilia…”
Emilia was slightly choking up.
She no longer asked me to give up my immortality.
Instead, she was telling me she’d support me.
I was endlessly grateful.
I appreciated her understanding what it meant to devote my life for Yulia and was so incredibly thankful.
It was truly the perfect gift.
An artifact that I could use to remember Emilia anytime.
“Thank you. But can I add more images to this?”
“No way. Only capture the images of me when I was young and pretty.”
“Nope. I’m going to keep recording and capturing everything. I want to remember you in every form.”
“Really… so mischievous.”
Emilia turned to face me and smiled.
Beauty doesn’t only come from appearance.
No matter how old or what form she takes, Emilia will always be beautiful.
I hugged Emilia tightly and kept kissing her on the nape of her neck.
What if I hadn’t met Emilia?
Would I still be living like a pathetic piece of trash?
Even if I thanked her many times, it wouldn’t be enough; she was a woman too good for me.
…
…
…
“Ha. Hoo. Heh. Hehehe.”
“······?”
Irene, who was about to knock on the door, stood frozen in place, startled.
Silly laughter was leaking out from her daughter’s room.
No matter how air-headed Erica was, she had never heard such silly laughter before.
What on earth could be happening inside?
Irene couldn’t bring herself to knock and quietly left the door, trying not to make any sound.
“Heh. Hehehe.”
Meanwhile, inside the room, Erica was hugging her pillow tightly, reminiscing about today.
It felt like she was dreaming.
Everything that happened today felt like a fantasy.
But when she touched her lips, the sweet sensation that returned reminded her that today wasn’t a dream or an illusion.
“He loves me. He loves me, Naerul…! Huhuhuhu!”
With a happy scream, Erica tightly hugged her pillow and kicked her feet.
For today, Erica felt like the happiest person in the world.
*
A vast plain.
In the middle of it stood a large stone.
A man’s footsteps stopped in front of it.
– Here lies the magician who loved humans.
“Shit.”
A rough curse escaped the man’s lips.
It was a comical phrase considering the actions of the gravestone’s owner.
This magician had, for a long time, shared his power with humans and created a cult of Majin worshippers, attempting to overthrow human nations with them.
More absurd than that ridiculous plan was how Pitchitz had foolishly joined in.
However, knowing he was foolish wouldn’t change anything.
If he was foolish whether he realized it or not, wouldn’t it be better to be a living fool?
“Dammit. Seriously… coming here just makes me more pissed off.”
As the traveler was about to place flowers, his irritation surged, and he stomped on the flower.
He had come to wish for the magician’s peaceful rest.
The impulse to dig up the corpse and kill him again surged.
After all, it was all because of the magician that he got into this ridiculous war.
It was the magician’s fault that Pitchitz had died.
“Was this part of the plan, you bastard? Huh?”
Did the magician know?
That Schlus Hainkel would become a freak of nature.
That alone, one human, would overwhelm all the Majin that had once put the entire continent in fear.
“Of course not. You bastard. Kaah, spit!”
Spitting on the gravestone, the traveler turned away.
He had dug Pitchitz’s grave and visited the magician’s, leaving him with nothing else to do.
“This is really the last time.”
It was too greedy to win this war without sacrificing himself.
Now, he had to wager his life and then some.
In an already bleak situation, what would he not wager?
The traveler decided to stake everything on this last bet.
Truly, everything he had as a traveler.
“I’ll let you meet your end, just as your name suggests, Schlus Hainkel…”
The end. And finish.
Now, it was time to pay the price for the name Schlus.
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