Chapter 44 Awakening

The night in the back alley is both the most magnificent and the most terrifying place in the empire. As soon as night falls, the back alley bursts into a radiance that even other entertainment districts can't match, yet it also becomes a hotbed for all kinds of sins. Thus, there are only two types of deaths in the back alley: either dying from over - excitement or getting a hole in one's body.

Pat - pat. At this moment, a woman in a cloak is walking through such a back alley. Whether it's nobles or beggars, men or women, the back alley is always bustling and crowded. However, the back alley she's passing through is eerily deserted.

"..." The woman still looks around warily and then quietly enters a tavern.

"Who's there?" Pushing open the dilapidated door, she is greeted by a man in a neat suit. "Even though I don't know who you are, would you like some wine?"

"No, thank you."

"...Is that so? Then I'll drink alone." As he speaks, the man pulls out the cork of the wine bottle on the table and starts to quietly pour wine into the glass in front of him. The woman, who has been staring at him, then opens her mouth.

"...Please tell me the latest news about the Demon King's Army." The man looks straight at her, sneers, and picks up his glass, muttering, "Who could it be... Oh, it's the Demon King herself?"

"Did you just recognize me now?" From that moment on, the woman's tone becomes arrogant. The man sitting opposite her takes a sip of wine, looks at her, and then says, "Well, then I'm going to start the test."

Suddenly, the space around the tavern begins to change violently. The originally winding road suddenly folds and starts to rise into the air.immediately, the surrounding buildings, road signs, trees, and decorations also start to rise into the air, and the surrounding space gradually twists and distorts.

Rumbling!!! Just when almost half of this area is being destroyed, a man, sweating profusely, suddenly waves his arm, and then the entire "space" starts to sweep towards the woman opposite him.

"...How arrogant." However, she still has a nonchalant expression. After saying this, she gently moves her fingers.

Crackling!!! In an instant, the space sweeping towards her is completely annihilated.

"G - greetings, Demon King!" The man, who has been staring blankly at this scene, suddenly kneels down in a hurry, kowtowing and shouting, "I'm willing to accept the punishment for offending the Demon King..."

"What kind of crime is this?" The Demon King looks at him with an incomprehensible expression, sneers, and says, "...It's just a flick of a finger. So, don't worry about it."

"But..."

"Just talk in your usual tone. It's really awkward to watch." Hearing this, the man lying on the ground sighs, walks to the only intact table in the ruins, sits down, and says, "Demon King, before reporting the news to you... Can I ask a few questions?"

"...You're not the Demon King yet, just an heir. Why do you demons always brag so much?"

"Isn't it the same thing?"

"...Forget it, I'm too lazy to argue with you. You can call me whatever you like." After the Demon King gives her consent, the man takes another big sip of wine and starts to ask, "Demon King, aren't you unable to leave the Demon King's Castle?"

"That's true."

"Then this time you're out... Does it mean that it's finally starting?" There is a glimmer of anticipation in the man's eyes, but the Demon King shakes her head and replies, "No, my main body is still in the Demon King's Castle. This is just a vessel."

"...Then how did you exert that power just now?"

"That's not something you should know. Let's stop talking about this." After the Demon King firmly refuses, the man shakes his head and asks the second question. "Why on earth do you hide your identity?" The man looks at her, who has always been hiding her identity with elaborate invisibility magic, and continues to ask, "When the heir of the Demon King's Castle was imprisoned, no one could get close, so no one knew the true identity of the Demon King. But now, why do you still hide your identity so thoroughly?"

"Hmm..."

"You haven't even shown your true face to me, the second - in - command of the Demon King's Army. This is a bit too much. So, even for the morale of the Demon King's Army, please reveal your identity..."

"No way." The Demon King firmly shakes her head. Seeing this, the man lowers his head and sighs deeply. "Then, are we going to continue these awkward meetings in the future, or receive your orders through letters?"

"There's no other way."

"...Can you at least explain the reason?"

"No." The Demon King adopts an unyielding attitude. The man sighs, looks at her, and throws out the last question. "Then, this is the third and last question. Was it really you, Demon King, who sent the telegram 'Find the Brave' last time?"

"Exactly."

"Then, please disclose the information as soon as possible. Our Demon King's Army will ensure that the Brave doesn't become an obstacle..."

"...Can't do it."

"What?" Hearing this, the Demon King quietly stares into the air and murmurs, "...It's not that I don't want to tell you, but I can't."

The man glances at her with a bit of helplessness, then drains the glass of wine, stands up, and says, "Well, since the great Demon King has spoken, I can only obey." After that, the man waves his arm and starts to repair the destroyed area, saying at the same time, "Well, I'll start reporting."

"Yeah, go ahead." The Demon King listens to the man's account, with eyes shining like rubies.

.....

"...Ah, what about the password?"

"Miss Perosh, the password isn't for the people outside, but for the people inside to ask."

"Ah..." At the same time, in a tavern in an alley not far from where the Demon King is.

"Who are you!?"

"...They're my subordinates."

"Ah, my apologies." Klana looks at Perosh, who is walking into the tavern in a daze, with a world - weary expression.

"...Huh? Is it just me and Miss Klana today?"

"Miss Irina said she'll be here later... And Miss Kania..."

"What's wrong with Miss Kania?"

"Uh... She said she has something to deal with." Klana answers vaguely. Perosh tilts her head and thinks for a while, then sits down and starts to talk.

"If she has something to do, there's nothing we can do. Well, as usual, I'll start reporting!"

"...Okay."

"First of all, the first thing. His Holiness the Pope... No, it seems that evidence related to the Demon King has been found from the Pope!"

"Really?"

"Yes. Since a few days ago, I've been feeling a subtle aura flowing in the basement of the religious order." Perosh says a bit nervously, then starts to tilt her head and think. "But every time I go to investigate, it disappears without a trace... And then when I come out, that feeling comes back again... This situation has been repeating. Don't you think it's strange?"

"...It's really a bit suspicious."

"Exactly! It's really suspicious!" There is a glimmer in Perosh's eyes, while Klana crosses her arms and murmurs, "If we handle it properly, we might be able to put pressure on the Pope... Maybe we can even get involved with Frey..."

"...Miss Klana, by the way, are you really okay?"

"Hmm?" Perosh looks at Klana with a bit of worry, then condenses a wisp of divine power and gently transmits it to her, saying, "You have heavy dark circles... If you're pushing yourself too hard..."

"This is exactly the time to push myself." Klana answers resolutely. While flipping through the papers, she starts to murmur again, "Sure enough... The information on the Starlight family sent this time is also all non - essential documents. This is really..."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing." Klana carefully closes the file, answers Perosh's question, then smiles and starts a new topic. "By the way, when will Frey wake up?"

"Um... It might still take quite a long time..." Klana answers with a smile.

"That's good. Before he wakes up, we can still slightly weaken his position."

"Sorry... I haven't been of much help..."

"Don't say that. You've already fully fulfilled your duty by staying in a high - position in the religious order." Klana comforts the dejected - looking Perosh, then quietly looks out of the window at the twinkling stars in the night sky. "...I'll give it to you soon, Frey." In the night sky, an especially hazy star is twinkling.

Creak... Klana stares at that star for a long time. Only when the sound of the door opening comes from behind does she suddenly turn around.

"...Hello." At this time, Irina in a cloak nods towards her and walks into the tavern. "Nice to see you, Miss Irina. Now, our combat power has increased by one more person."

"...Exactly! Miss Irina is extremely powerful!" Irina looks at them a bit trance - like, sits down, and throws out a question.

"...I caused a certain degree of damage to the Demon King before, right?"

"Hmm?"

"Could it be... that I didn't even leave a scratch on him?" Irina asks a bit uneasily. Klana smiles and answers, "Because of your blow, the Demon King's advance was halted for a whole week. Thanks to that, we won precious time to evacuate the people of the empire."

"...A week?" Hearing this, a look of disappointment gradually appears on Irina's face. "That was a blow that exhausted all my magic knowledge and magic power. According to the records, a thousand years ago, this kind of great magic once brought the Demon King to the brink of death."

"...Yes, that's true."

"But... Only a week? I couldn't even hold the Demon King back for a week?" Irina asks in a low voice. Perosh answers carefully, "Well, but... When I was caught and killed by the Demon King's Army, I heard them say... That was a quite fatal injury..."

"...Uh." Listening to Perosh's words, seeing her talk about her own death as if nothing had happened, Irina lowers her head and clenches her teeth.

"...Miss Irina. I want to ask you something..." Klana looks at her quietly and carefully asks the question. "Is there really a magic that can cause such a large - scale time - regression?"

"Um..."

"No matter how I think about it, it's strange. Not just one person, but a full four people experienced time - regression. Maybe there are even more people. So... No matter how I think... Is there some magic involved behind this?" Klana says with a serious expression. Irina slightly frowns and answers, "There might be a way to manipulate space, but there is no magic that can manipulate time. Even ancient magic can't do it."

"Then, what about a divination magic that can receive future memories..."

"That's the same. There is no divination magic that can do that. Unless it's the revelation of the Sun God..." Irina's tone becomes vague when she says this, and at the same time, she secretly glances at Perosh. Perosh immediately shakes her head and says, "No, Lord Sun God just... Uh...!" She suddenly hugs her head and lies prone on the table. Irina and Klana look at her in a panic.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Ugh... My head suddenly hurts a lot..."

"Suddenly?"

"Ah, I feel much better now." Perosh's expression eases significantly, then she speaks again, "Anyway, that shouldn't be the act of Lord Sun God. Even if an oracle descends, it will only descend on me alone." At this time, Klana, who has been nodding silently, gently sighs and starts to summarize, "Although this is a bit concerning... Let's put aside the matter of finding the reason for the time - regression for now. What's important now is what we should do next." After saying this, Klana looks at Irina and Perosh and says, "...Well, it's getting late today. Let's stop here. The significance of today is to confirm the addition of new combat power." After that, Klana stands up and adds, "...I'll tell Miss Kania about today's events. Well, goodbye, everyone."

Before long, Klana and her companions quietly leave the store and start to stroll on the streets at night.

"Miss Irina!"

"Hmm?" Irina is about to stand up, quietly looking at her, when Perosh grabs her to stop her. Irina can't help but tilt her head.

"Do you need me to treat that scar?" Perosh asks naively. Irina slightly frowns and answers, "This is a scar from a long time ago."

"Um... How did you get hurt? Could it be because of a curse?" Perosh looks at her scar carefully and asks again.

"It's not like that. This was when I was a child... Uh... That is..."

"...Miss Irina?"

"Wolf... Wolf... Frey..." Irina touches her scar, mutters incoherently for a while, then shakes her head, regains her composure, and continues, "Anyway, I don't plan to get rid of this scar."

"Why?"

"...I'm not really sure." After saying this, Irina leaves the confused Perosh and walks out of the store with a dazed look.

"What's going on..." Just like this, she walks alone in the night alley for a long time. Suddenly, she stops and murmurs, "...This feeling, it seems like I remembered something, but also seems like I didn't..."

.....

"Frey... What on earth is going on..." Just like this, three months and one day after the "Civilian Dormitory Raid Incident" ended.

"Kania, you know the truth, right? What on earth is going on? Tell me, right now." Serena comes to Frey's dormitory after a long time. Seeing him completely broken down, she starts to question Kania, who is standing silently beside.

"...I don't know."

"Tell me immediately."

"...I'm sorry." But Kania keeps her lips tightly shut. Seeing this, Serena lowers her head and says in a low voice, "You also know that there are a lot of strange things about his condition, so..."

"...I don't quite understand what's strange."

"Huh, really?" Serena sneers at Kania's answer, then says in an angry voice, "In the past few months, the top doctors and mages in the imperial hospital have been in a frenzy to cure him. In the end, all of them failed. You know about this, right?"

"Yes, I know."

"And even Miss Perosh, the Saintess, couldn't cure him. You're also very clear about this, right?"

"...Yes."

"Even so, do you still think there's nothing suspicious!?" Finally, Serena releases a large amount of moonlight magic power from her body and shouts, "Leaving aside the mages and doctors of the empire!! But it doesn't make sense that Miss Perosh, the Saintess, can't cure him!?"

"...About this matter."

"When I first diagnosed him, he clearly only needed a week to wake up!! Of course, that was already a big problem... But it definitely wouldn't have made his body deteriorate to this extent!"

"...I'm sorry." Finally, Kania lowers her head again and says. Serena stops getting angry and starts to quietly look at Kania.

"...Are you going to insist on this all the time?" Serena stares at Kania for a long time, then says coldly, "If you keep this up, I can't just stand by..."

Knock - knock - knock

"...I'm here to clean." However, this sentence is temporarily interrupted by Irina, who is knocking on the dormitory door.

"Do you have to clean at this time?" When Irina pushes the door open and enters the room, Serena asks a bit irritably.

"Because I made a 'Death Oath' with Mr. Frey. If I don't do slave work, I'll die."

"...What?" But when Irina gives an extremely reasonable reason, Serena, who is stunned for a moment, then sighs deeply and mutters, "Why on earth did you make a Death Oath, Frey... If that thing is discovered, it will be quite troublesome to deal with..." Irina, who is quietly looking at Serena, says calmly, "Well, to keep me from dying, I have to go clean... You two can continue your conversation."

""".....""" Hearing this, Kania and Serena look at Irina at the same time, then say in unison, "It seems that it's better for us to talk outside." "Please come outside. We'll continue the conversation there." After that, the two look at each other for a moment, sigh deeply, frown, and walk out of the dormitory.

"...Tsk." While cleaning, Irina eavesdrops on the conversation between Kania and Serena. She feels a bit regretful, then secretly looks back, and then starts to scan the surroundings with sharp eyes.

"...Come to think of it, I've really felt a lot of strange auras from that side recently." Just then, her eyes fall on Frey's backpack, so she carefully approaches the backpack.

"What? I clearly felt there was something here just now." Irina starts to rummage through the backpack, but after rummaging for a long time, she only touches books and dust, and immediately shows a confused expression.

"...Huh?" Then, she discovers a strange space at the top of the backpack and without thinking, stretches her hand into it...

"Cough!! Cough!!"

"Ah!!" Frey suddenly sits up from the bed and starts to cough. Serena jerks her hand back in shock and stares blankly at him.

"W - what happened... Young Master!?"

"Frey...!!!" Hearing Irina's scream, Kania and Serena rushed over immediately and surrounded Frey.

"...Damn it, as soon as I wake up, I see the punishment window." The awakened Frey kept staring into the void, then with a helpless expression, he muttered to himself.

"Is he... awake?" At the same time, Irina, holding a small device with a date written on it, looked at Frey in a flustered manner and murmured in a low voice.