High Queen Morgwynevere was sitting in her throne room, speaking in front of her retainers and Raymed, the Hero of United Front.
"Effective immediately. I will no longer cooperate with any other nation."
Morgwynevere's retainers began to talk amongst themselves. The murmuring in her throne room made it sound more like a market than a court. Despite that, none of them seemed bothered by her decision.
"Please reconsider, Your Majesty!" Raymed said, his face filled with worry.
"My decision is final. Grand Saint Veuz, Demi-Human King Borreas, Spirit Origin Alayars, and Fey King Oberon have all been secretly undermining my efforts to defeat The Demon King. As such, I will no longer consider them allies, but rather obstacles to my current goal of winning this everlasting war," Queen Morgwynevere spoke coldly, sitting on her throne.
Raymed looked slightly downward. "Is there really no way for me to convince you otherwise? What happened that made you decide all of this so abruptly?" he said with pleading eyes.
"My Psyteliers were out on rescue missions to every corner of the world. Yet instead of coming back here safely with more intel, they disappeared without a trace, even managing to remain undetectable by me. What's more suspicious is that none of the nations' leaders ever spoke about them. I know them well; they would make themselves known to each nation's leader. But the nations' leaders never said anything to me."
Raymed's eyes widened as he thought to himself.
Missing? The Psyteliers are missing? Then who was fighting with Thalamik? Was it not Suiko?
"Veuz didn't even try to gather information about the Psyteliers or even send a message to me about what had transpired in United Front. So tell me, Sir Raymed. If you were in my position and the people you trusted the most were gone, would you or would you not try everything you could to bring them back? Even at the cost of antagonizing the world itself?"
Antagonizing the world? To that extent?
"It seems you didn't even have the courage to think that up," Morgwynevere said in an indifferent tone.
"Your Majesty, what transpired in United Front was solely due to the work of Zuatha Il Zikmel, who is now behind bars. I was transported to United Front due to the betrayal of a Faerie named Puck, who was working with Demonfolk."
"Puck? Oberon's servant?"
"I heard Oberon was badly injured while fighting Mikoto, who was possessed by Belial. Undoubtedly, Puck abandoned Oberon in that fight as he began progressing his own plans, which led to Oberon's fate."
Morgwynevere heard the explanation as she put a hand on her chin. "Regardless of who is responsible for the details of what happened, every nation's leader has the responsibility of managing their denizens. Therefore, Oberon is also responsible for Puck and Zuatha's behavior. How can a king not make a pre-emptive move to prevent something like that from happening?"
"Regarding that, I would argue that Oberon's leadership isn't like what you have here. He is a progressive leader who endorses his people's own ideas and wants. He is a king who aims to give freedom to his subjects in order to progress. Yes, it does cause problems right now, but his bad decisions don't ultimately justify you claiming him to be a villain, just as Puck and Zuatha are," Raymed argued to Morgwyn.
"Precisely. Because of his incompetence to rule, I will take matters into my own hands. My first move will be to send military troops to every nation to seize their leaders and take direct control of their people."
"Your Majesty! You can't be serious!" Raymed shouted at Morgwynevere, who was watching him with a flat expression. The court began murmuring at the Queen's decision.
"It matters not to me whether you agree or not, Sir Raymed. To me, results matter more than anything. I will not stand here and—"
"I will offer you a Cursed Covenant!" Raymed abruptly said. Hearing what he had just said, the court fell silent in anticipation of the Queen's response.
"Excuse me?" Morgwynevere asked. By the look of it, it wasn't that she didn't understand. It was more that she didn't expect the person before her to say that.
"I will rescue the Psyteliers. If I fail, then you can feel free to take anything that I have. My artifact, my possessions, my freedom, my time, my magical energy. In exchange..."
Morgwynevere waited in anticipation.
"I WANT YOU TO TRUST ME TO SOLVE ALL OF THIS!" Raymed declared as magical energy began to rise within him. The court began to murmur louder than ever.
"You are willing to die for this, Hero Raymed?"
"I am."
"Why? It would be much simpler for you to stay put and save your energy. This kind of conflict is meaningless, whereas you should focus on fighting the Demon Lord Envoys," Morgwynevere inquired as she closed her eyes, awaiting a response.
"It's because I still have HOPE."
"Hope?" Morgwyn asked, not to patronize, but as if she was finally feeling some weight in Raymed's words.
"Your Majesty. Once you do this, there's no coming back from it. We will have an all-out war breaking out. In contrast, we currently still have good relationships with every nation's leader. 'I' still have their trust and credibility. I am confident that I myself can help solve all of this. My bonds with my friends and everyone I have met on my journey will help me solve all of this! I am sure of it!"
"If you fail?"
"Then I will pay the price if I do fail!"
"I can't agree to an IF."
"But your premonition of me failing is also based on an IF."
Morgwyn watched Raymed throw out arguments. "I assume it is pointless at this point to argue about what-ifs," she said before pausing. She closed her eyes as she tapped her fingers on the throne's armrest. A soft giggle escaped her as she opened her eyes, looking at Raymed as if he were someone she had known for a long time.
"On a larger scale, it would be more beneficial for you to send me to solve all of your problems. You don't need to send any troops to solve them for you. You can focus on any cues of Demon King Ars's movements," Raymed said with a confident smile.
Hearing the new argument, Morgwyn couldn't help but break into a smile. "Perhaps I truly am a fool for trusting your 'Hope.' Then go, Raymed. I will give you one month. After that period, I will begin to move my troops all over the world."
"We haven't secured the Cursed Covenant, Your Majesty," Raymed said, offering his hand.
"There is no need. The fact that you offered it without hesitation has already told me everything," she replied. "I will allow it just this once for you. This one time, you are off the hook," Morgwyn said to Raymed as her retainers appeared surprised by the Queen's sudden decision.
For several seconds, the court remained silent. Then shoulders relaxed across the throne room, and quiet sighs of relief passed between the retainers.
"All hail Queen Morgwynevere!" the court hailed.
"I will be sure not to disappoint you, Your Majesty," Raymed said.
"However, my promise is this. If and only if Ars decides to descend, then at that moment, no matter where he is, I will launch my attack. Do we have a deal?" Morgwynevere said to Raymed, making sure he understood her point.
"I accept your terms, Your Majesty. I pray that he won't descend soon."
"Then you may go, Hero Raymed. Get Glory."
After giving a bow, Raymed ran outside the throne room with a confident smile. Once again, he was given another chance to do things his way. Yet this time, he mustn't fail.
***
Three days had passed since Thalamik, Momoka, and Besitulars arrived in The Demi Human Region. Within those three days, the kingdom had managed to recover quite quickly. On the second day, Princess Derashina of the merfolk arrived to bring aid to the Demi-Human Region. With the help of the merfolk, the transport of goods and recovery of the lands taken by Demon Lord Envoy Ose were easily dealt with.
They were currently in the process of rebuilding the whole kingdom.
As promised, Borreas joined Thalamik, Besitulars, Momoka, and Derashina for a tea party.
"I can never thank you enough, Thalamik," Borreas, the midnight-colored Demi-Human wolf, said. His expression was much more relaxed than when he had been cornered and injured a few days ago.
"No need to thank me over and over. I already accepted my price; we are even," he said flatly.
"My~ My~ Whoever made this tea is talented," Derashina said in awe of the tea's taste.
Thalamik wondered whether there was a particular technique that could make tea taste better. Upon seeing the amount of sugar Derashina was putting in her tea, he began to nod his head.
"Will you be going soon, Thalamik?"
"Yes. I will return to United Front, then promptly go to the Fey Kingdom on the Isles of Europe."
"I see. So you will be meeting with Oberon?" Borreas inquired, sipping his tea. "At the moment, I suspect he is still badly injured."
"I see, then the aftermath of his battle with—"
"Yes. Even though he won against the possessed Crowned Prince, Mikoto, he still suffered grave injuries in doing so. Hence, he has been resting ever since that battle in his sanctuary."
"How are you able to contact him?" Thalamik asked.
"We exchange letters via our own couriers. I send birds to give him letters, while he sends me letters through a small fairy. Sometimes bees."
Somehow, that last remark was so funny to Thalamik. "Bees as couriers? Is that letters or honey?" he said before giggling.
"HAHAHA! Now that you mention it," Borreas said, also laughing at that remark.
Thalamik gave one look to Momoka, and she nodded. He took a deep breath before continuing, "Can you help me get an audience with him?"
Hearing the words, Borreas smiled and said, "Of course I will help you. I'll write the letter now." Borreas asked for a piece of paper from his retainers as he began scribbling.
Watching the Demi-Human King eagerly write the letter, Thalamik was finally closer than ever to helping Momoka resolve her past.
We are finally here.
***
Kourin awakened in her room.
"Where did I go? Was it all just a dream? Ray?" she said as she began searching for her lover around the room. She rose from her bed and looked out at the scenery of Aurelius. Her sisters were outside watering plants in front of their store. She could see multiple people walking through the streets as the day was almost over.
"Hey, Kourin! Why did you wake up so late in the evening?" Recca called out to her, stopping her activity almost instantly.
Kourin smiled as she looked at her sister and said, "It's not my fault. Sleeping was so enjoyable!" She said, sticking out her tongue.
"If you sleep too long, Raymed might be mad at you!"
"What are you saying? He won't be!"
Then, a weird voice was heard.
[Experiment: Hi-cells Extraction]
[Extraction number 1.000]
[Beginning]
***
"AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Loud screams sounded inside an underground facility.
A blonde-haired woman was chained and pierced by needles in her hip. The procedure of extracting Hicells was quite similar to how stem cells were extracted from bone marrow. Several pipes were connected to these needles as they extracted the Hicells.
What made this procedure terrifying was the number of places where Kourin was stabbed. Needles were in her arms, her legs, and her iliac crest, all inserted to extract her cells without her even being administered anesthesia.
[Extraction 1.000 Complete]
As the procedure stopped, an elven doctor went over and force-fed her through a nasogastric tube, a medical tool used to feed her through the nose and down to the esophagus. She was also given an IV to maintain her health and inject vitamins, coupled with several sedatives to make her dazed and unable to focus.
Lizwell Von Wistik walked toward her, caressing Kourin's face. "My~ My~ Let me wipe those tears for you," she said, wiping the tears from Kourin's eyes. The light in her eyes had disappeared. She was also noticeably much thinner than she usually was. Her hair was unkempt, and her expression was grim.
"It's okay. Everything is fine. Rest well before your next extraction. After all... dreaming is the only solace you will find here," Lizwell Von Wistik said before walking away from her.
That's right.
The only thing I am allowed to do here...
Is to dream.
To detach myself from my own reality.
Closing her eyes, Kourin drifted once more into her dream.
Once again, she awakened in her room in the Psytelier store back in Aurelius. But this time, someone was knocking on her door. Unable to understand what had happened, Kourin opened the door.
In front of her was a woman with white hair and red eyes. She was dressed in an all-white outfit and wore a relieved smile.
"I have finally found you, Kourin."
.
.
.
For a moment, Kourin forgot who she was. Then she abruptly said, "Carmilla?!"