CH 635

If the Archduke were to visit Edina, that would be helpful.

The Council of Elders responded, telling us to do as we saw fit.

However, Lucinil suggested limiting the number of Archdukes who could come to Edina to just one, as it might be dangerous. Naturally, Harriet and I agreed.

We couldn't be sure if the Archduke would truly be able to provide us with any leads, but if not, it would simply be unfortunate.

Perhaps if we discussed the matter together, we might find a solution.

A few days later.

"Dad!"

-Warak!

From a distance, I watched Harriet run towards the Archduke and embrace him fervently.

Time can change many things.

I wondered when the daughter who used to be annoyed by her father had become like this.

It seemed like just yesterday when I had to secretly visit Arunaria to discuss heavy matters and then return.

Now that the Archduke had decided to be on our side, Harriet could meet her family as much as she wanted.

It wasn't a tearful reunion.

Instead of crying, Harriet was filled with excitement, and the Archduke looked content.

After holding each other for a while, the father and daughter finally released their embrace, and the Archduke looked at me.

"Thank you, Reinhardt."

"I should be the one thanking you."

Seeing the Archduke's gratitude somehow made the back of my head itch.

It didn't seem like something worthy of being thanked for.

Was it really a matter of receiving gratitude for doing something obvious?

Just like the hatred one receives for being the Demon King, I felt strange whenever I experienced the favor and gratitude that came with being the Demon King.

The Archduke stood at the entrance of the royal palace, looking down at the scenery of Edina, spread out beneath the hill.

Now that the Archduke knew where this place was, he could come here whenever he wanted.

"I see... if it's an island... yes, it makes sense that it could be like this..."

The Archduke seemed to feel an odd, intense emotion as he stared blankly at the peaceful seaside village of Lazak.

"I can't believe there are still places with such scenery..."

Due to the vast barrier of the sea, flying monsters from the mainland couldn't reach this place.

Edina Archipelago itself was a tourist destination, so the weather was nice, the sky was clear, and the sea was transparent.

It was a beautiful landscape.

But that wasn't all.

"I never thought such a place could exist..."

From a distance, one could see demons and humans living together.

Of course, there were still humans who feared demons, but there were also humans who spoke with demons without hesitation.

The Archduke's eyes widened as he watched them coexist.

It was as if he was trying to properly regret the moments of the past when he hadn't known such a thing was possible.

As if he was trying to think about how pointless the war in the Demon World had been, without avoiding the topic.

"During the initial stages of the Gate Incident, I focused on coming here and stabilizing this region. That's why the damage wasn't too severe."

The moment the Gate Incident occurred, I immediately came to Edina and saved Airi.

Then, I destroyed all the warp gates in the archipelago.

"That's right, after that, we established a base on the mainland and evacuated humans and demons from there to here. We've been doing that ever since."

Harriet began to explain to the Archduke what we had been doing here since the Gate Incident.

During their last meeting, there had been stories she couldn't share, but now, with no more secrets to keep, she explained everything from beginning to end.

Harriet seemed more excited than ever before.

She had done something.

She had tried to do what she could.

And that's how she had been able to create such a world.

The Duke looked down at his daughter, who was excitedly talking about this and that.

With a faint smile on his face.

Not only what she had done, but also what others had accomplished.

How Olivia Lanze, with whom she had such a poor relationship, had helped people.

How many succubi had been truly loved by people.

How Charlotte was now stabilizing the once-chaotic Edina.

Harriet spoke incessantly, as if she wanted to share not only her own achievements but also those of others.

It was strange.

The Duke was supposed to be moved, but somehow, I felt myself being swept up in Harriet's enthusiasm.

Harriet loved this country a lot.

She took pride in it.

Seeing Harriet sincerely considering others and feeling proud, my mood somehow turned strange.

Perhaps the Duke felt the same way.

The Duke, unable to stop his talkative daughter, placed his hand on her head.

"It reminds me of the old days."

"…Old days? All of a sudden?"

Harriet cocked her head as if wondering what this had to do with the old days.

"You used to crave praise a lot."

"Wh-why are you bringing that up now…?"

With her face turning red, Harriet glanced at me.

"Whenever you learned a new spell, you would demonstrate it and look up at your father with those eyes, just like you are now."

"…Did I?"

In Arunaria, where there were few people, Harriet had been a genius, so she must have known magic from a young age.

I imagined a young Harriet flipping through magic books to earn praise from her father, mother, or older brothers. The thought was suffocatingly adorable.

"It wasn't just magic. Whenever you learned something new, you'd brag about it. You recited poetry and novels you'd memorized more than once."

It was natural for children to want to be praised by their parents.

From that perspective, there was no way a daughter who proudly studied hard wouldn't be lovable. And she was a genius, so she must have lived with words of praise on her lips.

But in the end, a child was still a child.

"Our youngest… When you were so young…"

The Duke looked down at the hill below and spoke.

"Now you're bragging about saving countless lives…"

The child who used to bring home perfect test scores had grown up and was now boasting about saving numerous lives.

Before he knew it, the corners of the Duke's eyes had reddened.

"D-Dad…?"

With that look in his eyes, the Duke wrapped his arm around Harriet's waist and lifted her up.

Holding his daughter, who was no longer a child, the Duke spoke as if handling a young girl.

His daughter, who was once only smart, inconsiderate, and arrogant.

Seeing her take pride not in her intelligence, brilliance, or abilities, but in saving someone's life. Watching her feel proud of it.

What parent wouldn't be moved by that?

"You've done well. My daughter."

It was like when Harriet was young.

However, it carried a weight that couldn't possibly be the same as when she was young.

It was the highest praise and expression of gratitude a parent could offer.

As the duke's eyes reddened, Harriet's eyes welled up with tears too.

"Dad... did I do well?"

"Yes, you did well."

"I... I tried my best. I really... worked hard with Reinhardt... I couldn't do everything perfectly, but I still did my best. It was hard... not being able to save everyone. It was painful. But... sniff! Still... still..."

Harriet's sobbing eventually turned into wailing.

"Still... I did well, right? I did a good job, didn't I?"

When she thought of the people she saved, she couldn't help but think of the people she couldn't save.

"Of course, you did."

"Sniff... sob! Sob! Ugh! Ugh!"

The duke carefully embraced his youngest daughter, who was wailing.

In the end, their reunion was a tearful one.

------

"...I'm so embarrassed."

Harriet's eyes were swollen from crying, and her face was flushed.

"Go on, go for a walk with your dad."

"Uh, um... what are you saying now?"

"If you're not a baby, then what are you? Anyway, go and cry some more, the duke won't have much time."

"You're unbelievable!"

The duke had taken time off from leading the allied forces to be here.

He had a lot to do, and in reality, he was practically on unauthorized leave.

He would have to return soon, so they needed to talk while they still had time.

Harriet briskly led the way, holding her father's hand as they walked down the hill.

A daughter going for a walk, hand in hand with her father.

She was acting like a baby.

The duke followed with a smile as Harriet led the way.

"I never thought I'd see such a sight in my life. Ugh."

Olivia Lanze appeared next to me, seemingly out of nowhere or perhaps she had been watching from afar.

Pretending to be disgusted, Olivia made a gagging gesture.

"What's wrong with that? It looks nice."

"I was an orphan, so I never had a father. The one I did have beat me with a whip, so I can't sympathize at all."

"...You were beaten with a whip?"

Was Riverrier Lanze that cruel?

"It's just a figure of speech. It wasn't that bad. But being whipped would've been better."

Why would she lie about something like that?

But I knew what Olivia meant.

Harriet had devoted herself to magic, not because of her parents' pressure, but because she enjoyed being praised and studied on her own.

Olivia had lived a forced life.

She never received praise.

No matter what achievements she made, she would always hear that it wasn't enough.

After living under near-brainwashing pressure, Olivia had become an empty shell of a person.

Olivia continued to watch Harriet and the duke walk away.

Her gaze seemed to be filled with longing for something she never had.

"I didn't realize it, but I must be a twisted person."

For some reason, Olivia looked at me and laughed heartily.

"...You're just realizing that now? That's what's really twisted."

"What did you say?"

"That's why it's good."

"Hmph. Fine, then."

Olivia crossed her arms, gazing down at the landscape of Lazak.

"Actually, I've been really scared lately."

I knew what she was afraid of without her having to say it.

"It's probably too late to say that staying like this wouldn't be so bad and that we should stop this madness, right?"

"...I suppose so."

If we hadn't grasped it yet, it might have been possible.

But there were things we had already seized.

They wouldn't return to their original state just because we let go.

Instead, they would fall to the ground and shatter.

------

The phrase 'breaking through the bamboo' means advancing while pushing aside dense bamboo groves.

But could the advance of the Allied forces truly be described as breaking through the bamboo?

The Allied forces were undoubtedly advancing without hesitation, but they did not fight anything or anyone.

The commanders of the various armies had come to know that an unknown, powerful force was fighting ahead of them, and that the Empire was using some evil power. It was inevitable that this information would spread, albeit cautiously.

A power that could not be revealed to anyone.

An evil power.

And a powerful force.

People naturally thought of one thing.

Had the Empire joined hands with the Demon King?

People could only naturally imagine what was within the realm of their imagination.

People didn't think about the Demon King when he was helping the advance, but now that he was not actually leading the vanguard, they thought about the Demon King.

That was because the Demon King that people imagined was a very frightening existence.

In fact, the Demon King and his forces were even stronger than people imagined, so people were more likely to have such thoughts.

The rumors that spread in fear and dread had no basis.

How the Demon King had joined hands with the Empire.

Why the Demon King was helping the Empire.

Why the Empire had joined hands with the Demon King.

Filling in the unimaginable parts with delusions of some unknown basis, they simply imagined.

The Demon King might be lurking somewhere.

What would the Demon King take in exchange for helping humans?

The seed of confusion and anxiety had sprouted in everyone's hearts, even though they were told to watch their words because spreading groundless rumors could cause chaos.

In the end, the Allied forces had not fought for a long time, so their minds were busy rather than their bodies.

Nothing was certain.

As time passed, it was the 5th month.

The Allied forces canceled all other routes to major cities and moved in one direction.

The capital of Riselen, Diane.

The conquest of the other major cities was not yet complete.

But the Allied forces were moving straight to the site of the final battle.

"It's amazing that Rosentine could be dealt with just by the Immortals..." Bertus muttered as he blankly read the battle report from the Immortals.

The port city of Rosentine.

Two major cities built nearby were in close proximity, effectively creating a situation where three cities were attached. Thus, when entering Rosentine's territory, they had to conquer three cities in a row.

Considering the gates were becoming increasingly dangerous, if they left this place as the last point of conquest, they might not be able to end the Gate Crisis.

Soon, it was an even more difficult place to capture than the capital.

In effect, they couldn't just conquer one city, so they had to subdue all three cities at once.

That's why the Immortals decided to conquer the area around Rosentine before it became too dangerous to suppress, and they succeeded in pacifying the area with the Immortals alone.

"However, about 80% of the Immortals were damaged. It seems impossible to carry out battles for the conquest of major cities with just the Immortals now."

"So we can't rely solely on the Immortals anymore."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Both the Titan and the other Allied forces had to fight.

They had destroyed all three major cities near Rosentine, where the biggest chaotic battle had been anticipated.

The Allied forces now advanced towards the capital of Riselen, Diane.

There were a total of three major cities along the route.

The remaining small and medium-sized cities would be dealt with by the Immortals during the march.

If the Allied forces could capture all three cities, the Gate Crisis would be over.

There were three battles left.

The end was in sight.

They could put an end to this tedious flow of destruction.

The Immortals could not be hidden forever.

Soon, when large-scale battles began, the Immortals would have to fight alongside the Allied forces.