Of course, they didn't let the two actually fight. If they really swung that greatsword and spear at each other here, the garden Karen had worked so hard to cultivate would be ruined.
"Haa… You're not kids."
Isaac scolded the two who were just standing there awkwardly.
Liana immediately spoke up.
"Silverna was the one who grabbed the spear first, Isaac."
"Oh? Are you tattling on me?!"
With a dumbfounded expression, Silverna snapped back right away.
"Isaac, she's the one who said we should fight! You heard her say it too, right?"
"I was serious about it. I wanted to fight. That whole thing about my heart trembling—it's a concept we don't have in Helmut."
"Ha! See what I mean?!"
Liana's mouth didn't stop; she spoke whatever came to mind and ended up revealing more than she meant to.
Her eyes wavered for a moment in surprise, but it seemed she had no intention of backing down now.
"But it's annoying, you know? Isaac, do you happen to like big ones?"
"…We really need to deal with that subjugation issue soon."
Too much of anything is always a problem.
Back when they were newlyweds, the problem was that Liana barely talked. Now, she talked way too much.
And yet, Liana herself had gotten quite used to it—she even seemed to be using it as a way to communicate.
"You know what's really unfair about this?"
Silverna, who had clearly sensed something about the subjugation, pointed a finger at her without hiding her suspicion.
"She's being more cunning now because she knows she's in the position of being divorced!"
"Hm?"
Isaac didn't get what she meant.
"Gotcha."
Liana could only confess outright that her intentions had been exposed.
"What are you talking about?"
Unusually slow to catch on, Isaac was so clueless it made Silverna pound her chest in frustration.
"She can't express her feelings or show affection openly because she's your ex-wife. But with that subjugation going on, she can just put all that aside."
"Gotcha."
"Ah…"
Silverna's sharp deduction and Liana's blunt admission left Isaac genuinely impressed.
Even if he was pretty sharp as a man, there were still things only women understood between themselves.
Strictly speaking, Isaac was popular, but he didn't have much experience in relationships, so he couldn't catch on to something like this.
"Wow, that's amazing."
Isaac honestly admired her.
"Lia, you really thought it through like that?"
That a woman as stoic as a rock, who had shown barely any affection before, had come up with something like this—it really surprised him.
"I was a married woman, after all."
It was one of those strange replies that didn't sound like a proper answer but also kind of did.
Isaac fell into the latter category, simply nodding as he accepted it.
"This isn't what we should be talking about right now!"
Sharen, who had been listening to the conversation, suddenly butted in—maybe she couldn't follow the topic or just didn't understand it.
"We have to look at the gift Grandmaster brought! It's a gift! A real gift!"
She raised her arms and insisted they hurry up and open it.
The word "gift" itself seemed to excite her quite a bit.
Behind them, the Grandmaster, who had been watching their little play, snapped her fingers.
"Damien, bring it."
"Yes, Maam!"
Damien quickly stepped forward and untied the large bundle on his back.
There were quite a few things inside.
"Ooh…! Oooh?"
"Books? A scabbard? Seeds?"
From the looks of it, the bundle felt more like a collection of random items than actual presents.
"What is this?"
Even Sharen, who had been so full of expectation, now pouted in disappointment.
Unbothered by everyone's reactions, the Grandmaster began pointing and explaining.
"That book was written by a swordsman who had mastered the Light-Wave Sword Technique. It contains some rather meaningful content."
"A sword technique manual?"
Isaac, who had read many books during his days as a Silent Sword, was familiar with the Light-Wave Sword Technique.
He figured it must be a manual of some kind.
But when he opened the book, it turned out to be a kind of romance novel.
"It's a romance novel written by a swordsman. Seems he was third-rate with the sword but first-rate when it came to love."
"…Why this, though?"
"Then what about the scabbard?"
"That was a toy I used to play with as a child. Back when I lived in Crimson Valley, all I had were swords and scabbards to play with."
The Grandmaster nodded as if reminiscing fondly.
"What about the seeds?"
"Behind the place I lived, peach trees would bloom beautifully in spring, filling the air with a fresh scent. I thought your estate would benefit from something similar, so I brought them."
"..."
At this point, everyone had the same thought pop into their heads.
But out of respect for their elder, no one dared to say it aloud.
Except for one person—who never had such filters.
"Isn't she just unpacking her stuff? Trying to freeload at Isaac's place?"
The words everyone had thought but dared not voice finally spilled out of Liana's mouth.
The Grandmaster flinched, hesitating for a moment before replying awkwardly.
"N-Now, now! What nonsense is that?! There are good reasons for all of this!"
"Reasons, you say?"
"Indeed. Reasons."
The Grandmaster cleared her throat and placed a gentle hand on Isaac's shoulder, looking at him warmly.
"All these things may be useless now, but in the future, they will become necessary."
"…"
"Books, memories, trees… These are not things for the present but for the future. This is my heart as your teacher."
With those words, the Grandmaster gently pulled Isaac into an embrace.
"Don't die, Isaac Logan. My dear disciple."
"…!"
"A great upheaval is coming. I hope you survive it. So that the books, the memories, and the trees may all come to have meaning."
"Master…"
"Wow. That's some next-level emotional manipulation."
Liana's blunt remark from the side.
Silverna chimed in instantly.
"Wow, this is Helmut? I feel totally liberated. Then what about those clothes you brought? What kind of 'meaning' do they have?"
"A teacher doesn't want her disciple to feel lonely—!"
"What convenient timing! Now that the disciple has a house, you just move in and freeload?"
"Didn't she say she lived in the rocky mountains? Now she's sick of sleeping on stone and wants to stay in a proper mansion, so she came crawling to Isaac. Like a parasite."
"P-Parasite?! Did you just compare me to a parasite, Helmut?!"
Overwhelmed by the tag-team assault of Liana and Silverna—now standing side by side and united—the Grandmaster was left defenseless.
Hesitating briefly, the Grandmaster grabbed Isaac's shoulders, forcing him to look in her eye.
"Disciple."
"Yes, Master."
To Isaac, his Grandmaster was like a guiding star that would never abandon him, no matter what.
If she was acting this way, there had to be a reason.
Liana and Silverna simply didn't know her the way he did. That's why they misunderstood.
With that in mind, Isaac looked into her eyes, and the Grandmaster smiled as she spoke.
"How could the teachings I gave you be compared to mere gold or silver?"
"…Pardon?"
"Think about it. How much you've learned from me. Not just skills—you could say I saved your life. Isn't that true?"
"Well… yes, it is, but…"
"Then sparing a single room for your master—considering the immense grace you've received—is really nothing, isn't it?"
"…"
"…Answer me."
Crunch.
The grip on his shoulders tightened so forcefully that Isaac swallowed nervously.
"…Stay as long as you'd like, Master."
Nodding, he gave her a room.
***
"…"
Under the silver star of the Abyss Realm's night sky, Helik stood blankly at the top of the tower, staring upward.
His crimson eyes didn't brim with sorrow, yet they weren't devoid of emotion either.
Bittersweetness.
That was probably the most accurate word to describe it.
"You can't ignore it anymore, can you?"
Helik lowered his head calmly, his red hair falling forward and covering his face.
"We no longer have anywhere to retreat."
He sensed that the end was near.
All they had to do was take that one final step forward.
"This is the hell you created. Your choices made us struggle, and now that struggle will reach the humans you tried so hard to protect."
The silver star gave no reply.
Of course, he hadn't expected one.
The Silver Clock… she had always been like that.
Always seeming closest, yet truly the most distant of all.
Helik still occasionally dreamed of her.
The time they spent together.
Holding her hand.
Kissing her lips.
Genuinely wishing for peace and prosperity between humans and transcendent beings.
Back then, he had been too naïve.
And because of that naivety, he had been deceived.
And thus, tragedy was born.
"I'll show you."
The vast world of the Abyss Realm—
Once it was revealed, humanity would be forced to confront the tragedies and sins they themselves had created.