“You’ve come.”

Even faced with a messenger of death in the form of a young girl, surprisingly, words came easily.

“No matter how soon this space will become yours, it’s hard to say it’s good, even as a polite lie, to sneak in without any prior notice.”

Pointing out, reproaching.

It was a tone and attitude not much different from when Adelaide and Giselle first met.

An action that could be called reckless, considering the completely reversed positions of the two.

Yet Giselle didn’t bother to change her words.

At the very least, she never wanted to do anything she couldn’t take pride in

Thus, she didn’t want to flatter the girl before her or beg for her life.

To Giselle’s words, the girl smiled bitterly instead of arguing back.

Whether she found the loser’s cry laughable, or whether she had gained enough experience to handle it with composure.

Either way, it was a response that clearly showed growth.

“I’m sorry about that. But I thought this was the only time I could meet with you alone, Giselle.”

“Even if you don’t resort to assassination or anything, if you try to execute me, I have neither the intention nor the means to resist.”

“If I had thought of that, I would have done it three days ago already.”

Giselle’s actions momentarily froze.

While her brain interpreted the meaning of what she had just heard, Adelaide calmly continued speaking, “I returned here before the others. In case there might be watchful eyes, I prepared a stand-in for myself among the group coming here now. There happened to be a suitable person. That way, I could see Friedel’s true appearance,” she said. “With the help of Miss Witch, I changed my appearance and looked around here and there like an ordinary traveler. In a year… so much has changed. While traveling around, I thought a lot about how to run Friedel, how to change it. Many of the things I was planning to do were already implemented, or even in a better state.”

The girl smiled bitterly.

“The residents, the vassals, everyone highly evaluated you, Giselle. They said you were an excellent lord. That thanks to you, the devastated domain had developed. Unfortunately, there were almost none who were looking forward to my return.”

“…That’s not because you’re lacking, but simply because they don’t know what you’ve accomplished.”

It wasn’t a world where things like the internet or TV existed.

The spread of information was slow, and communication using magic or messenger birds was too expensive for commoners to dream of, so for information to be transmitted from village to village, there was no way but through people’s feet and mouths.

While Adelaide’s fame might be dazzling around the imperial capital, it would still take a long time for rumors to spread to Friedel, which could be considered rural when looking at the entire continent outside the empire.

“You extracted or received massive interests and funds from the Tower, gained justification and talent from the Empire, and are connected by personal networks with high-ranking officials of various countries. Is someone like you swayed by the reaction of just one such domain?”

“Of course. ‘Just one domain’ was the entire goal of my life, after all. For a naive girl who could be kidnapped by mere bandits, even that was an enormous hurdle.”

“…”

Giselle found it difficult to understand Adelaide.

Adelaide was a person who had obtained all the fame and power that Giselle had wanted to grasp.

Just showing a part of the radiance of the numerous treasures she had obtained would have been enough to make the domain’s people and vassals enthusiastic about Adelaide and support her.

If so, who they supported and respected now had no meaning at all.

At least, that was how it was in Giselle’s values.

But it seemed different in Adelaide’s values.

“I became certain while watching for three days. If I become the lord of Friedel now, it would be ‘taking’ the domain, not ‘reclaiming’ it.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Please become the official lord of Friedel.”

Giselle’s mouth closed.

Adelaide’s eyes were too serious for this to be sarcasm or mockery towards a loser.

“I can’t stay here. I still have things I need to do, and even if those tasks end, I can’t shoulder the title of the family head of Lennart while being tied to Friedel. To prevent tragedies like my father’s, I need to observe many things from a higher place. Friedel will be one of those things.”

Only then could Giselle understand Adelaide’s meaning.

“…So, you mean for me to grasp Friedel and participate as a subordinate force of the new Lennart you’ll create. Is that it?”

“Yes, after all, this area is only nominally part of the kingdom, but in reality, it’s full of independent forces that are neither kingdom nor empire. The poor public order and rampant bandit groups are due to such characteristics. So, I want to create an order that binds them together. I want to make a place where not just Friedel, but all the surrounding people can live with peace of mind. I’m not saying I’ll do it right away, but that’s my goal for the future.”

Giselle thought for a moment about the concept Adelaide had described.

Whether it was feasible or not, whether it was just a fantasy, and if not a fantasy, what was needed and what should be prepared.

Money. The amount squeezed out of one Tower and sent as a gift of goodwill from another was enormous. If even a part of Lennart’s assets could be drawn in addition to this, it would even be possible to create a new domain from scratch.

Talent. Not only those from Lennart who would join immediately, but Adelaide also had the title of representative instructor of Tik-Tok. As the Lennart in the imperial mainland would gradually weaken, by continuously absorbing survivors escaping the sinking ship and using the dojo as a primer to supply new talent, the prospects were not at all gloomy.

Finally, military power.

“…There’s no way it would be lacking.”

Unless a nation-level force decided to trample it, the capabilities of each small and medium-sized city in the vicinity couldn’t even dare to bare their teeth.

No, even the nearby nation like the Empire or Kingdom would choose compromise in most cases unless Adelaide declared complete independence as a new nation and threatened them.

Of course, things might change in the future, but by then, this side would have built up sufficient strength.

Perhaps enough to repel threats and stand independently as a nation.

Whether the girl before her eyes was thinking that far or not was unknown, but well, that was probably too early a concern for now.

Life returned to Giselle’s dead eyes.

As a path she thought had already ended appeared again, just thinking about how to run down it made her body itch with anticipation.

Therefore, Giselle knelt on one knee towards Adelaide and paid her respects.

“—I shall offer my loyalty. To the new head of the Lion Duke’s bloodline.”

***

Infinitely high and lofty.

A land above the clouds that some living on earth wished to set foot on even once in their lifetime.

In its deepest core, there were four special rooms that even the heavenly inhabitants were not allowed to approach.

The Angel of Transformation, who possessed more aspects than anyone else, and whose true face was known to none.

The Angel of Death, who as a princess inheriting the most noble blood, was granted the power to mock even death.

The Angel of Extinction, who had never been wielded even once since birth, but would subdue all enemies the moment it was wielded.

And the fourth.

No, if counting by order of birth, there existed the oldest and most worn-out angel.

The angel who, when the wings of heaven were being broken one by one during the old war, was the only one to achieve victory, not just a draw.

However, the Black-Red Angel, who wandered the earth due to the aftereffects and obtained unnecessary emotions for an angel, became broken.

Since she wouldn’t stop rampaging when conscious, she spent most of her life passing time through the means of sleep.

Sitting on a throne that was just for show, bound in chains, feeling both hatred and affection in dreams of times when she was still happy.

A beautiful face revealed between red hair.

Tightly closed eyelids opened up and down, and violet eyes, as if drunk with sleep, were revealed for a moment.

In her hazy mind, the angel, Kalidahs, blankly looked around.

There was nothing particularly visible.

As always, she was alone, trapped in the room.

Yet, she didn’t stop searching for someone.

Someone.

Someone so hateful, yet someone so longed for seemed to have called her.

It seemed like they had roared that they were here, that they wanted to meet her.

It must be just a feeling.

She knew better than anyone that such a thing couldn’t happen.

But why?

Even knowing that, Kalidahs couldn’t stop looking for someone.

She couldn’t suppress the feeling that she should get up from the throne, undo these cumbersome chains, and run somewhere right away.

But that was only for a moment.

As the emerald throne she sat on emitted a turquois light, Kalidahs’ open eyes slowly closed again.

That was the end.

The wish of a man who wanted to clear up the misunderstanding even if he became a ghost didn’t reach the one he wanted to convey it to most.

The heavens were too high, and the gap was too vast to narrow with just one person’s will.

Therefore, his efforts were meaningless, worthless, and futile.

At least for now.

It would be so until the day when a descendant inheriting his will reached the angel.

***

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if everything is done!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ urges to quickly depart for the next destination!]

At the Tin Knight’s urging, the lion, who gained courage but had yet to finish her journey, answered with a smile, “Yes, Sir Knight!”

***

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