"My full name is Aisha Yuna Carlos. Mr. Miles, do you have any instructions for me?"
"Oh… I almost forgot."
No wonder the two of them had been talking past each other.
Miles had forgotten that Aisha's own full name also contained the two characters "Yuna."
But this Yuna was not that Yuna.
"Aisha, the Yuna I'm talking about is your ancestor. Ancestor Yuna Carlos."
"My ancestor? I see…!!! ∑(?Д?ノ)ノ W-wait, my honored ancestor?!"
This was exactly the reaction Miles had been hoping for—and wanted to see—from Aisha.
After Miles fully described his experience of meeting Aisha's ancestor inside the Obelisk Tower, Aisha's expression of shock grew more and more exaggerated, much to Miles' increasing satisfaction.
Of course, during the explanation, Miles cleverly concealed the existence of Dark Aisha, instead saying that Yuna Carlos had not possessed anyone, but had instead appeared out of thin air in Aisha's form.
"So, Aisha? Do you have any ideas why your family's ancestor would appear inside the Obelisk Tower?"
"?(.ヘ°) Let me think about it for a moment."
'Don't bother thinking. That look of overflowing wisdom has already given you away.'
It was clear that Aisha herself had no idea why her honored ancestor would appear inside the Obelisk Tower in the western region of the Kingdom of Livorden, so far away from the Carlos family's territory.
"I don't really know," Aisha said, suddenly struck by inspiration. "But maybe—just maybe—my sister would know!"
"Your sister? Oh, you mean Alice!"
When it came to matters concerning the Carlos family, Aisha's sister, Alice Carlos, was indeed far more reliable than this simple-minded (airheaded) younger sister.
And Miles had a hunch that if he asked Alice about Ancestor Yuna Carlos, he might actually get some crucial answers.
However, Fusion Academy was currently still in the first semester of the second year. As a fully boarding Duel Academy, if things followed the same process as in the first year, Aisha would have to wait until the end of next semester—during the year-end break—before she could return home and see Alice.
What, you're asking about summer vacation?
Generally speaking, the Spirit Continent doesn't have scorching temperatures above thirty degrees Celsius, so there's no need for such a thing.
Although the weather stays comfortably pleasant, not having a summer break is still a blight on civilization.
Reading the impatience in Miles' gaze and understanding the reason behind it, Aisha added, "If Mr. Miles really wants to know, we could just take leave and go home. I miss my sister too!"
This was a lie.
Missing her sister was merely an excuse. Aisha's true objective was something else entirely.
It was to sneak Miles back to her hometown.
Because if things continued according to the current trajectory, Miles would soon obtain a brand-new body crafted by Viel.
And when that happened, whoever struck first would gain the advantage.
"Take leave?" Rubbing his chin, Miles thought it over and felt it was feasible. "Then what would the reason be?"
"The reason would be… ancestor worship!"
What a reason.
Although strictly speaking, using ancestor worship as a pretext to ask Alice about Ancestor Yuna Carlos wasn't entirely off the mark.
"All done!"
After fully releasing the power of the Stigmata and chanting prayers for a long time, Saint Ecclesia finally purified the twisted influence that Despia's dark power had exerted over the Obelisk Tower.
Then, turning to face everyone, Ecclesia revealed a bright, refreshing smile.
"Senpais, it'd be best if you all get down—quickly!"
"Get down?"
"Careful, it's about to explode~"
"Huh?!"
Everyone cried out in unison. What kind of turn was this supposed to be? Wasn't this purification? How did it suddenly turn into an explosion?
With lightning-fast reflexes, Miles pressed down on Aisha, who was still frozen in place and hadn't reacted yet.
Had he remained manifested as a guardian spirit outside, not to guard against enemies, but to pin his own host to the ground at a critical moment?
They dropped into a prone position to avoid the shockwave. Immediately after, starting from its base, the entire Obelisk Tower shattered and exploded on the spot, with chunks of stone blasting outward in all directions.
After being purified by Saint Ecclesia, the Obelisk Tower—which had stood upon this land since the earliest recorded history—vanished.
As he stood back up, Miles couldn't help but complain, "Isn't your purification a little too physical, Ecclesia?"
Purifying the Obelisk Tower by blowing it up—physically erasing it from existence.
Ecclesia said righteously, "Only this way can it be considered truly purified. Otherwise, if the remnants Despia left behind were to resurface and harm innocent villagers again, that would be far worse."
Compared to the existence of the Obelisk Tower itself, after weighing the pros and cons, the girl believed that the lives of the villagers living in the present were far more important.
"Besides, since the Obelisk and ZEUS inside the Obelisk Tower have already been taken by you, Senpai Miles, the tower itself has lost its reason for existence. This is simply a natural end to its lifespan."
"When you put it that way, it does make some sense. But still…"
Is this really okay?
The girl you're possessing—Lishia—should be the Tower Warden, right?
Hasn't the duty of the Tower Wardens across generations been to protect the Obelisk Tower?
Yet Ecclesia, while in a state of saintly possession, went and erased the tower altogether.
...
"So that's how it is—the Obelisk Tower was destroyed."
After returning to the Tower Warden village, perhaps out of guilt and apology, the group still informed the old village chief of the fact that the Obelisk Tower had been blown up.
Stroking his beard, upon hearing the news, the old village chief's eyes—weathered by the passage of years—slowly narrowed as he pondered for a while without a word.
Then, the old village chief slowly rose to his feet and paced out of the house.
"Village Chief Grandpa, is this really okay?"
To prevent his soul from being overdrawn by prolonged manifestation, Miles had already returned to the Soul Room of the Millennium Puzzle.
Even so, Miles was still very concerned about the destruction of the Obelisk Tower, and specifically switched bodies with Aisha to confirm things with the old village chief.
"Oh, it's completely fine," the old village chief replied. "I was just planning to go tell the other villagers the good news—that from now on, there's no need to keep doing unpaid cleaning duty at the Obelisk Tower."
"G-good news…"
That the Tower Warden village would actually consider the destruction of the Obelisk Tower to be good news.
Looking at Ecclesia's smug expression, her little nose practically tilting up toward the sky, Miles found himself completely at a loss for words.
It seemed he had imagined the Tower Warden's duties as being far too solemn and serious.
So-called Tower Wardens were really nothing more than a profession passed down through generations—forced, unpaid labor.
Maybe after scrubbing the tower for decades, the old village chief had long since grown sick of it.
So in the end, was the only person who truly regretted the tower's disappearance… himself?
Obelisk, now that you've lost your home, just stay by my side from now on.
Even though blowing up the Obelisk Tower sounded absurd, it had to be said—the results were outstanding.
Not long after returning to the Tower Warden village, Kaima received a message from Kevin, who had been holding the front lines, reporting that all of the controlled villagers had fully regained their senses.
The Seth family's army, having originally been deployed to suppress the rebellion, seamlessly transformed into an organization helping the western villagers with post-war reconstruction.
Rebuilding the houses that had been personally destroyed during the fighting…
Fortunately, the Seth siblings were the kind of people who were cold on the outside but warm on the inside. Had it been other nobles, they wouldn't have bothered with the villagers of these impoverished western regions at all and would have simply declared that it was their own fault.
With the Despia forces wiped out, and Arnold—who had been possessed by a dark personality—purified by the power of Ecclesia's Stigmata, he returned to being the familiar academy underling.
"I really caused you a lot of trouble this time, Big Sis Aisha!"
He apologized with a perfectly executed kneeling bow.
Miles, controlling Aisha's body, waved it off. "As a senpai, it was just a small effort. No need to apologize."
It really was just a small effort—Obelisk raising its arm and smashing you flat in an instant. Hardly any trouble at all.
And just as Miles had said before, he actually quite liked underlings like Arnold—stubborn and serious to a fault.
With that, the mission of the Western War was successfully concluded.
Back when Kevin first proposed inviting Miles to assist the Seth family in suppressing the rebellion as a Royal Knight, he had assumed it would take a long time.
Looking back now, even counting everything, it had only taken a single day.
The primary reason was simply that the efficiency of the giant god soldier and Sky Thunder in ending wars was far too high—practically a dimensionality reduction strike against the very concept of warfare.
Let alone suppressing a cultist rebellion of this scale, even if it escalated into a full-fledged war between nations, sweeping the battlefield with the power of those two colossal gods wouldn't take long.
And it was precisely because of this that Aisha Carlos, Royal Knight of the Kingdom of Livorden, had become an existence that every nation had to seriously consider courting.
Even if they couldn't win her over, they absolutely could not afford to offend her.
However, this sudden and inexplicable rise in international standing didn't feel particularly real to either Miles or Aisha.
The thing that felt the most real—and the thing Miles cared about the most—was something else entirely.
Now that the mission was complete, the promised reward couldn't be missing, right?
Two million gold coins were the agreed-upon payment for entering the Obelisk Tower and acting in the capacity of a Royal Knight, as arranged with Kaima Seth.
And Miles clearly remembered that at the very moment they entered the Obelisk Tower, Kaima herself had said this:
"Even if you're going in with me, the payment doesn't get discounted, Kaima!"
"I'll pay you double!"
The reward had gone from two million gold coins to four million.
For an amount of money this large to casually double, Miles didn't know whether it was his own lack of experience—or whether the Seth family was simply so wealthy that their riches defied his imagination.
Regardless, at the very least, given the current situation, Kaima definitely wouldn't dare to stiff him on the payment. After all, he had leverage on her.
They had barely returned to the academy when Aisha and Miles were invited to the Seth family's residence near Fusion Academy.
After all, when dealing with such an enormous sum of money, discretion and security were of paramount importance.
The Seth family's own territory was the obvious choice.
"Go on in, Miles."
Outside the study, having dismissed the other family servants, Kaima leaned against the doorway with her tall, seductive figure, arms crossed as she beckoned.
"Mm."
However, after the Millennium Puzzle flashed and the control of the body switched, before Miles could even step through the door, Kaima reached out and stopped him.
"This is a private transaction between us, Miles," Kaima emphasized.
"I know." Miles glanced around once more to confirm that no one else was nearby.
"Since it's a private transaction, you go in by yourself."
As she spoke, Kaima's slender fingers lightly tapped the Pyramid of Light hanging at Aisha's waist.
"You can do it now, can't you?"
...
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