While the Greyrat family and Sara were gathered for dinner, they were interrupted by unexpected knocks at the door.
Rudeus rose calmly and walked to the entrance, curious about who could be calling at that hour.
When he opened it, his eyes widened in surprise. Standing before him was Cliff, but the real shock came when he realized who was with him.
"Elinalise!" exclaimed Rudeus, joy overflowing on his face as he recognized the elf.
His excitement was so evident that it immediately alerted the rest of the house. Quick footsteps could be heard approaching the entrance.
However, something unusual caught his attention: Cliff was standing arm-in-arm with Elinalise, in a clearly intimate manner.
"Rudeus!" said Cliff, with a pride that was almost overflowing. "Elinalise is my girlfriend now!"
Sylphy and Roxy had already come close enough to hear the declaration.
Roxy stumbled over her own foot and nearly fell to the floor, while Sylphy froze completely, unable to process what she had just heard.
Rudeus remained equally stunned, blinking several times as if trying to make sense of the situation.
Elinalise, embarrassed, looked away.
"I think we can talk about this later!" declared the elf, her expression growing serious immediately afterward. "I have a lot of news. And it's not very good."
The atmosphere at the mansion's door changed drastically. The happy expressions were replaced by serious, worried faces.
Rudeus gestured for everyone to come in. Liena and Sylphy quickly reset the dining table as everyone settled into the main room of the house.
When everything was ready, they all gathered there, eager for what Elinalise had to say.
The elf began her account from the moment the group had split up.
She recounted in detail the route Paul's group had taken—starting in the Demon Continent, crossing the sea, traversing the Great Forest, until finally arriving in Milis—or rather, what was now called the Kingdom of Gaia.
Elinalise narrated how Paul had made some sort of deal with the Church of Milis as a condition to keep Norn at his side and take her away afterward, and how the conflicts of the War escalated rapidly after the arrival of Rygar, the new Beast God.
Everyone listened in silence, completely focused.
The description of Rygar's forces, the new Beast God, and the absolute power of the Iron Legion left them all perplexed.
When she spoke of Paul's death, the atmosphere grew heavy. Rudeus lowered his head, his eyes shadowed by sadness.
Roxy brought her hand to her mouth, shocked. Sylphy, however, clenched her fists so tightly that her red-and-pink eyes burned with anger.
After Paul, the focus of the conversation shifted to Aisha.
According to Elinalise, Aisha knew of Paul's death but chose to remain at Rygar's side nonetheless.
After all, Aisha had been raised only by Lilia; she parted from Paul when she was still a baby and held no strong feelings for him.
Furthermore, having traveled for years with Ghislaine and Rygar, she had developed a strong bond with them—so it was obvious which decision she would make upon careful consideration.
Yet Sylphy was still deeply affected.
"But… but Rygar killed her father!" said Sylphy. "She can't have accepted that so easily!"
"She has no ties to her family, except Lilia," Roxy commented, still shaken. "Of course she'd choose those she knows…"
Elinalise nodded, and Sylphy looked inconsolable but remained silent.
Aisha had barely known Paul, Zenith, or even Rudeus himself. The bond was almost nonexistent.
Still, Rudeus felt a bitterness in his chest. Even understanding it rationally, Aisha's indifference to her father's death hurt him deeply.
Sylphy, on the other hand, could not forgive.
The pain of losing Laws, her own father, at the hands of the Iron Legion was a resentment that still burned fiercely within her.
The only reason she had never sought revenge was that she had never been strong enough. Given the power, she would do it without a second thought.
Knowing that Aisha had chosen to live alongside her father's killer was inconceivable.
"Elinalise," Rudeus asked after a long moment of silence, "and Norn? And Zenith? Do you know where they are?"
"Not for certain… but if Ghislaine received the letter, they're probably still alive somewhere in the Kingdom of Gaia. Tallhand stayed behind; he'll try to find out more. I recommend you wait for his letter. It may bring more complete information."
Rudeus nodded slowly.
He needed to make a decision: whether to go after his family or not. Trying to bring Aisha back seemed impossible, but Zenith and Norn could still be in danger. And they also knew little about Lilia's current situation.
Elinalise and Cliff said their goodbyes and left the mansion. Sara, understanding the seriousness of the moment, also withdrew in silence. Only the Greyrat family remained in the house.
That night, Rudeus spoke with Sylphy and Roxy. They discussed everything they had heard. But they reached no definitive decision.
Tension hovered over the mansion like an invisible mist.
When everyone finally went to sleep, silence dominated the corridors. In his room, Rudeus fell asleep with a heavy heart.
And, as he closed his eyes, he found himself again in that fat, despicable body from his past life. He was seated in a white, endless void.
Before him appeared a white figure with an indiscernible face, like a mosaic. Hitogami.
---
Meanwhile...
One night, in a place whose name didn't matter, a local bartender witnessed something quite strange.
Specifically, he saw a man who looked like a monkey, a solitary drunk.
This man had probably been drinking in other bars before arriving at the bartender's establishment.
He was already drunk when he walked in. But he continued drinking nonetheless, until he became completely intoxicated. And then he kept drinking, until he vomited repeatedly in the bathroom.
Of course, this bartender had seen plenty of alcoholics. He had even seen some people drink themselves to death right in front of him. A drunk like this was nothing out of the ordinary.
However, something strange happened that night.
"Bweeh… Hmm?"
There were few patrons at the bar at that moment. The bartender was washing dishes and thinking of closing up for the night.
Suddenly, the drunk lifted his head as if he had noticed something.
His eyes were completely unfocused, and he seemed half-asleep, but for some reason he turned toward the stool next to him.
There was no one sitting in that seat.
"Hey, man! Long time no see!"
The drunk muttered a greeting and tried to pat his invisible friend on the shoulder. His hand moved gently through empty air, but he didn't seem to notice.
He just kept talking.
"Ah, what's the matter, boss? You're looking real sad today. Go on, tell me everything."
Deciding the man was just babbling like an idiot, the bartender shook his head and returned to his dishes.
"What… Hey, bartender!"
The bartender looked up again. The drunk's blurry, unfocused gaze wandered around the bar.
"How about you get a beer for this guy too, eh?"
The bartender had no idea who "this guy" was supposed to be, but he wasn't going to refuse a request. He was about to reply when…
"What the hell? I guess he went somewhere. What kind of customer service is that, huh?"
The drunk decided the attendant wasn't anywhere and began bad-mouthing him out loud to his nonexistent friend.
He dealt with drunks rambling regularly, but those spouting nonsense could turn violent at times.
This man didn't look like the fighting type, the bartender vaguely remembered him from rumors, despite being an S-Rank Adventurer, few groups were accepting him lately.
He was a thief with many skills, but very poor in combat.
Still, the last thing he wanted at the end of a long night was to spend an hour cleaning blood and teeth off the floor.
Instead of flailing about randomly, however, the man continued speaking to the empty stool beside him.
Watching more closely, the bartender discovered that the man was actually sleepwalking. He was talking in his sleep.
And as he listened, the bartender began to feel a little uneasy. For a disconnected monologue from a drunk, this… sounded a lot like half of a real conversation.
"Really? So… someone wants you dead?"
"Ah! Yeah, I bet you make a lot of enemies. Hell, I'd probably hate your guts if I were looking at things from a different point of view. Lucky I'm such a laid-back guy, huh?"
"…What? You're asking me for a favor? Now that's something unusual."
"Uh-huh. Look, last time I did you a favor, things went really badly for me. You remember what happened to my hometown, right?"
"You regret it? Hahah! Man, that sounds weird coming from you. Must be cold in hell tonight!"
"Oh? Is it really that bad? Bad enough that you desperately need my help?"
"Hmm…"
"Well, of course. You've saved my butt many times. For the record, I appreciated that warning about the ambush."
"Yes, it didn't end up going so well, but the boy is just too strong, and some really bad coincidences happened… you had no part in it, did you?"
"Well, it doesn't matter, nothing I could do anyway."
"Ah, man, here we go. I try to be cool, and you think I'm snubbing you…"
"Right. If there's anything I can do, I'll listen, of course."
"…Oh? Hohoh."
"Knowing you, that's not at all surprising."
"So, who's this guy that's after you?"
"Wow, man! You're trying to get all Seven Powers hunting you? Come on, man… are you kidding me?"
"Huh? What? How did you manage to screw yourself over from so many sides at once?! You're not helping yourself one bit here!"
"So what's the problem?"
"…Aaah."
"So that's it. So he's going that far… Hmm… yeah, that actually explains a lot."
"Alright, this guy doesn't need much explanation."
"Hum? Will I help or not?"
"Well, I don't know… honestly, I really don't have anything against him, and I have some friends among them…"
"…Wow. Someone got really moody all of a sudden."
"Damn, you're desperate, aren't you? I thought I was a useless piece of trash. You want my help so badly?"
"Alright! Riiight! I'll help you, man, it's not like I know how to live any other way!"
"So? What's the plan? Your targets are all troublesome guys, you're not expecting me to take them out myself, right?"
"Uh, a team? So you want to gather a bunch of guys like me?"
"Okay, fine. And then?"
"…Yes, I think I get the idea. But man… you really put effort into this!"
"Fwaaah…"
At that point, the man collapsed forward onto his table and finally finished his sleepwalking.
Now he was just sleeping like a log. And the bartender, who had heard every word of his "conversation," found himself with some disturbing thoughts.
Had this man just made a deal with the devil?
Was there some deeply evil thing sitting in that chair that only he could see?
And was that thing going to sneak up behind the bartender and whisper "You should have minded your own business" in his ear?
"Ridiculous."
With a firm nod, the bartender approached the sleeping drunk and gently shook him by the shoulder.
"Hey buddy. We're about to close. Mind going somewhere else for your beauty sleep?"
After a few more vigorous shakes, the drunk stirred and slowly rose from the table.
"Ah…? Mm."
All that air of "crazy conversation" seemed to have vanished completely. Stumbling to his feet, he pulled some copper coins from his pocket and tossed them onto the table.
And then he staggered toward the exit, zigzagging erratically as he walked.
Almost like a puppet, thought the bartender as he pocketed the coins.
Moving away, he returned to the kitchen… and then paused when he heard the drunk murmur something to himself.
The monkey-like man's voice was soft, but somehow the bartender heard him very clearly.
"Man, this really sucks. But I really owe him… so if I have to choose a side, I guess that's how it's going to be."
It wasn't the voice of a demon. But it was far colder than one would expect from a drunk.
A chill ran down the bartender's spine.
When he turned toward the exit, however, the only sign that anyone had been there was the faint jingle of the bell inside his door.
-----
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