ESS END: A thoughtful battle and…Divine Cheating?!! Part 1 of 5.

“…”

Oh, hey there. Sorry for the unenthusiastic welcome, I was just in the middle of thinking about what’s been going on with me today.

It’s nothing bad per se, I just…keep yawning for some reason.

Could it really be just sleepiness? I don’t know. It’s weird.

What do you think, my late arriving weebs?

Hm? Could it be because it’s night already? Nah, like I said, I’ve been like this all day so—

*yAAaAAAawnn*

SEE?! JUST LIKE THAT! It’s yawn after yawn after yawn! All day!

Now that I think about it, I’ve been feeling like this all week long. Some days it’s less frequent than in others but still! Isn’t it strange?!

No? It could be stress, you say? I guess so…even Nerinne told me something like that when I asked her.

She said that it could be mental fatigue caused by all the bureaucratic work I’ve been doing and it not being as ‘isekai crazy’ as everything that happened after I arrived in this world.

In short, mental fatigue due to boredom.

But you know…it hasn’t been that bad, the work I mean, besides the mountains of documents that seem endless of course. For one, thanks to my meetings with the representatives of the various Allied Nations, I get to feast on some sweet, sweet bits of isekai lore I would never be privy to otherwise. And let me tell you, they’re so frigging juicy! Don’t worry, you’ll get to know about them in due time!

Meanwhile, on the maid-knight side, things are going smoothly thanks to the experienced work of Ere and Erica. It is to the point that I barely need to do anything outside reading reports and discussing stuff with Ere.

As for what they’re doing, it’s mostly helping the Kyrie Kingdom’s Knight Orders with monster culling and taking care of the remnants of Violet Death’s army that either escaped before everything really went down with the Bone Legion and the Colossus or…somehow survived after that and went into hiding. Still, it’s been a month since they started so they’re probably almost done with that specific task.

Other than that, they’ve been helping wherever they can as much as they can. A few examples of where they’ve helped would be hospitals, schools, smithies, and orphanages. Specially, orphanages. Sophie has been quite popular there. I wonder why.

“Heh.”

*yaAaAawn*

Dammit! There it is again!

Haaa…I really want to believe that this whole yawning and being sleepy thing is just mental fatigue or stress, but if that’s the case…why do I feel like my instinct is somewhat reacting to it, I think?

I put it like that because it’s such a small and intermittent thing that I’m not even sure if it’s really that or not.

What’s that? That just shows that I’m so mentally fatigued that I’m imagining things now? I should rest before I die from overworking and get isekai’d again?

“Hmmmm…”

…you may be right but…but…I just can’t shake off this weird feeling you know? It’s almost like an itch that I can’t scratch. It’s not leaving my mind, no matter how hard I try.

Then I should go to an empty room and have some waifu alone time to clear my mind, you say…?

WOAH THERE! I MEAN, YES, THAT COULD CERTAINLY BE A WAY TO ‘CLEAR’ MY MIND BUT NOT TONIGHT! SPECIALLY NOT TONIGHT! WHY? BECAUSE THAT KIND OF FANSERVICE IS NOT IN TONIGHT’S SCHEDULE, YOU CRAZY WEEBS! GEEZ!

Let’s…let’s just talk about something else! Like something wholesome! ALRIGHT? ALRIGHT!

On that note, I’m glad to report that my girls have been nothing but angels today. Not that they misbehave that much or anything like that, it’s just that today they went above and beyond their usual good behavior.

It was like their motivation reached the level of a certain stormy blue half-demon.

First, they got up early and cleaned their rooms thoroughly, making sure nothing was out of place and that their bed was perfectly made.

And yes, you heard that right. They do have their own rooms. They are in the same hall as mine and Nerinne’s master bedroom, one on each side while ours is in the middle.

In any case, after being done with their rooms, they moved on to their chores.

They did them all so swiftly and efficiently that they even had some time to spare.

What are those chores? Ah, I guess I never mentioned them, huh.

Well, there’s still some distance left before we get to my room so let’s talk about it.

For Ilya, her chores include helping in the smithy and the kitchen, helping out Max with her beast summons, and assisting Kris with both her personal training and the maids’ general training on even days. On odd days she doesn’t have to do it because Bellary and the rest of my Wild Hunt take her place.

All in all, it’s pretty simple stuff that she can do and/or is learning to do on the go. No impossible or dangerous tasks.

Although, there was this one time that Ilya almost gave me a heart attack while doing one of her chores. I remember it so clearly! I entered the smithy and there she was, dipping her hands into the hot furnace! And with a straight face!

I was already about to faint right then and there, but then she went and took out the cup thingy that holds molten metal from it and held it like it was nothing! She even smiled at me!

At that moment I felt like I was pass on to another world altogether! Seriously, that was bad for my nigh immortal heart…

“Haha…”

Yes…I know that my daughter is a volcano…but still! I couldn’t help but forget that wee tiny detail when confronted with such a common sense-breaking sight!

Oh, come on! Stop laughing at me and saying that I finally got a dose of my own medicine! That’s not fair!

Oh, but it is, dear~~. I would even dare to say that you had it coming, fufufu~.

Of course, you’d say that Nerinne!

But of course~~. It was quite the funny thing to see when it finally happened after all. I even took some photos!

You…!

Now, now dear, don’t get riled up~. Rather, hurry up~. The girls are getting impatient~.

Grrr…I know, I’m almost there.

Good~.

I’ll get you later, you’ll see, you lovable Goddess.

Fufufu~~.

Now, where was I? Ah, yes. The chores and the furnace thing.

Once I managed to get over the shock, I asked Roxxy about Ilya doing such a thing and she told me that she too almost fainted when she saw her do it the first time, but then she said this:

‘…I remembered that she is Master’s daughter, and things became easier to bear after that.’

Ahahaha…it stung to be called out like that but…I AM an absurdly overpowered and common sense-breaking person…so I get it…but still…

Oh well. After that, I did what every sane person who felt shocked and then sad for being called out as worse would do, I got curious and tried to do the same thing as Ilya.

The result? It went perfectly. All thanks to me being a High Dragon Lord and fire being one of my chosen attributes.

While Roxxy stared at me—completely unamused by the whole thing if I might add—Ilya went ‘Oooh, Father is like…Ilya…so happy…’, which melted my heart.

As a whole, it was quite the emotional day.

Specially since I was also worried that Ilya was unaware of us being an exception and not the rule when it came to things like those, but there was no need for me to worry. Not only did she show me that she was aware of it, but it was clear that Roxxy and the rest of the crafter maids have taught her well in that regard too, and I’m very grateful for that.

After all, I don’t want her to go through a situation where something bad happens because she didn’t know stuff like that.

Man…thinking about it for a bit, it’s incredible how much my priorities have changed in just a couple of months. I guess that just comes with being a parent, huh.

Speaking of which, let’s move on to Celesia’s chores, shall we?

Celesia, as you might have guessed by now, is an incredibly curious child. Even more so than Ilya. Although it is not a competition, but you know what I mean.

She just…wants to know everything and is so enthusiastic about it all that you can’t help but want to do some learning of your own. To be honest, it’s an amazing feeling and I’m glad I get to share it with her.

Still, why did I say all of this instead of listing her chores? Well, because it has everything to do with them.

Celesia wanted to learn about alchemy, so she helps Allegra in the lab while learning everything she can. Imagine your chemistry class but in an isekai, cuter, and with a maid. Doesn’t that sound great?

Don’t worry about safety though, Allegra is quite literally an ultra-certified teacher, so she’s not letting Celesia work on anything dangerous, including poisons. And that’s regardless of Celesia having quite the strong resistances to lots of stuff due to her being a special kind of Dragon Lord, as in my daughter.

Besides that, and helping in the kitchen like Ilya, Celesia also helps out in the library. There she helps Mika and Josie with miscellaneous stuff like book placement and so on. Furthermore, she makes reading lists for anyone who asks and takes it very seriously by only recommending stuff she has read completely. If she hasn’t, she doesn’t.

She also helps Gabrielle and the rest of the healers with minor things here and there. As with the rest of the chores, she picked this one because she wants to learn how to help make the pain fly away.

And that’s without her knowing about that mysterious fire grimoire that completely healed Scath in our battle. I even asked Gabrielle offhandedly about healing magic using fire attribute instead of light and she gave me this look of complete befuddlement, which said a lot about said grimoire’s mysterious nature.

“Huhuhu…”

To be honest, it makes me so happy to see just how earnest Celesia is about everything she sets her sights on. She reminds me of her dear Mama. I love it.

And yeah, the growing similarities between Celesia and Scath are not lost on me. Specially with that seemingly endless love for knowledge that she’s developed.

But hey, I have faith in my daughter. Her love for knowledge is not driven by an all-consuming desire to reach a certain pinnacle through sheer power and slaughter rather…it’s a more innocent thing. I can feel it.

One day I’ll be sure to ask her what that is, but until then I’ll just use the memory of a smiling Celesia having fallen asleep in the library while reading various novels as proof of such innocence.

Even more so, as a sign that my sweet girl is enjoying her life.

In any case, besides doing their chores perfectly, my daughters also aced their classes for the day and impressed their teachers. Said teachers were not just their usual ones, Mika and Josie, but also a guest one, Patricia.

She was especially impressed by the fact of how well they complemented each other to solve some of the tasks she gave them.

By the way, did you know that Patricia is an arcane architect with a specialization in both city planning and building? AND that she also has the equivalent of a masters in arcane engineering?

Because I sure didn’t! When Ere told me that, I was very pleasantly surprised. It’s also quite convenient given what our next major quest is going to be.

“Cough-cough…city building arc…cough-cough.”

Heh.

And that also means that it’s a check! Why?! Because it perfectly fits the ‘companion conveniently has the exact skills needed for the next big task at hand’ isekai trope!  So…CHEEEECK!

Getting back into the topic once again though, after their chores and classes were done, my daughters went straight to the library and finished all their homework before supper.

Of course, it’s not as if their schedule is that tight normally. They do have breaks and free time to play around like any other child should. It’s just that, as I’ve said before, today their motivation to be done with everything was through the roof.

The reason? They didn’t want to be late for the last part of the story that stars their beloved aunty Euphy!

As for me…I’m finally here at my room’s door! And on time! Hm? What’s that? It’s so obvious that I’m late because I took my sweet time with all that exposition?!

How DARE you say that when you’re the one who was curious about that stuff?! I’m not late! You’ll see! I’m gonna open this door and be received with a super warm…

"Hurry up, Meanie Papa! You’re late! Late! Hmph!"

"Hurry...Father... Tardiness…no good…"

…disappointed look from both of my daughters? What…?

“Fufufu~~, I told you so.”

“Gnn…yeah…”

Man…this welcome hurts…but pouting daughters are cute too. Especially when it’s clear that they can barely hold back their excitement for the story while staying seated right in front of Nerinne.

They’re also wearing quite the adorable onesies this time. A chibi skeleton one for Ilya and a Cerberus one for Celesia.

“Papa! Don’t stand there! Sit! Sit!”

“Sit…Father…”

“…!! Sorry! Sorry!”

Oops! Gotta sit before I make them angrier and my heart is damaged even further by those looks of theirs!

“What took you, My Lord?” so asks Ere, slowly snuggling up to me as I sit on the bed to comply with our daughters’ orders.

She too finished all her work early so she could be here on time. And I would have been too if it wasn’t because of a certain curious bunch and one more thing that took more time than I thought.

That being…

“Lorelei wanted me present in her last check of the budget and material list for the city project with Patricia…”

“Ah, of course. I remember now. While My Lord was with the envoys of the Allied Nations, there was a meeting where Lorelei mentioned that she had made appointments with our supplier prospects to procure material samples for the project. I hazard to guess that she just wanted one final confirmation from you.”

“That is indeed what she wanted…”

…but that list was sooooo long that I guess I would’ve been late regardless…

Haaa…who knew that our ‘building a city’ arc would take this much work even before getting to do the actual building? And this is all just to get an inconspicuous amount of each material so that I can then recreate them in bulk with my magic…

“Father…”

“Mama!!”

““…! S-SORRY!!””

Ack! Those gazes hurt! And not just me! Ere has been wounded too this time!!

Quick! I need to do what I do every night since we started this! And no, my pinky weebs, it’s not trying to conquer the world!

It’s equipping my onesie and so on!

*fwoosh*

“There it is! I’m ready! Let’s go!”

“Fufufu~~, finally. Let us start then~.”

“Yes, Mother!”

“Please…Mother…”

“…!”

Cute daughters responding at the same time are cute. Ere silently burning with anticipation is cute too.

“Last night we got to see our dear Princess tell Kori that she intended to fight and defeat the Lesser Dragon Lord known as Xol, both to protect the people of Cucuy Village and to sever the chains of fear and trauma that were holding Kori down.

“But we also saw Charles ask Fen’Ru-el, the leader of their escorts to help in the coming battle. And he did so while revealing Fen’Ru-el’s true identity as the former Lord Commander of the Deamisian Royal Knights. Fen’Ru-el agreed to bring his all, and the same could be said of his subordinates.

“Now, this is where the final chapter begins.”

With those words to act as our opening, the mist-like screen flows out from Nerinne’s hands, and…well, you know the rest.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Our story picks up mere moments after Charles’ discreet conversation with Fen’Ru-el.

Having said what she wanted to say, our dear Princess was about to leave to her room to rest and recover, but Kori’s voice made her stop…

“Please…Lady Euphemia…fighting Xol…you can’t…”

His voice was a mess. Just like he was behind that closed door. Yet, Euphemia listened intently.

“It’s suicide…with the part of my power that he stole…my…my Mind Weaving magic…he won’t let you get close to him. He will use your own mind against you or worse…he will shut it down…all of it. I…please…”

Images of Euphemia going through many grim fates appeared within Kori’s mind with each word he said, fueling his inner turmoil.

But what of our dear Princess, dearies? What of Euphemia? Was she horrified? Was her conviction shaken after Kori’s revelation of the true nature of his power, his mind attribute magic? Was she going to change her mind?

No! No! And no!

Her mind was made. Her conviction, unshakable. Her heart, undeterred by horror.

Nothing was going to stop her.

Nothing had changed.

And while she was still thankful for Kori’s efforts and concern, regardless of the reason behind them…she decided to make that clear to him.

“Thank you for telling me this, Kori. I know that it must have been hard for you to tell me the true nature of your magic but…that doesn’t dissuade me. I will fight Xol.”

“…”

“And he is welcome to try and touch my mind, but he will not find it as weak as he may think that it is.”

“You…you are serious…”

“Of course. I meant it when I said that I was going to help you. Think of this as an extension of us saving your life, hehe. After all, what’s the point of saving someone’s life when they can’t truly live that very life?”

“…”

Kori was speechless. He had finally realized that no matter what he said, Euphemia wasn’t going to back down. On one hand, the fact that someone was willing to go that far for him made him feel a strange sense of relief? Happiness? Gratefulness? He didn’t know exactly what it was, but it was warm.

Yet, on the other hand, he felt dread. He felt dread for this young life that was willing to risk itself for him while he was going to do nothing but…hide.

Was that alright? Was that the path that he had chosen for himself when he became one of Sanjo’s Stars? Was that the reason that pushed him to fight for others in the Front and then his very homeland?

‘No…no. It wasn’t,’ he thought as he gritted his teeth and tightened his fists, unaware that his mind-numbing turmoil had gone silent and something else was taking its place.

Something better.

“Now, I won’t lie and say that I wouldn’t be happy to see you waiting for my return at the village’s entrance. Or that I’d be ecstatic to see you doing a heroic entrance and fighting beside me to rid the world of Xol’s evil with a big joint attack like in some of the books my big brother used to read me, but…”

Something that grew with every word that Euphemia said.

“…that is something only you can choose to do. It is your step to take and only yours. Just know that you will have a friend in me either way. Got it?”

“Yes…I got it, Lady Euphemia.”

Something that began to light what was seemingly a clouded path for him.

“Hehe, good. I’ll leave now. Tomorrow is going to be quite the day, and I need to be as well rested as I can. Goodnight, Kori. I hope you sleep well.”

“You too…Lady Euphemia. Goodnight.”

With that, our dear Princess left for her room, leaving Kori alone with his thoughts.

‘It is my step to take…’

He had been sitting on the floor with his back against the door all this time, but not anymore.

‘What was it that she said that night at camp? I did it once, so I can do it again…? Yes…something like that.’

Instead of hugging his knees until dawn, he slowly got up and began to walk to a certain part of his room, fueled by that something that was pushing him.

‘I must do it again. A leap of faith to move forward. No…I need to do something more. Something better. And for that to happen…’

One step. Two steps. Three steps. Stop.

He raised his head and there it was, a mirror.

And there he was, himself.

“Something has to change…,” he declared firmly, the words echoing within his still trembling heart.

He had to change.

He had to stop hiding.

But for that to happen, he needed to do something first, something he had been avoiding all this time.

Thus, after taking a deep breath, the vagabond Star of Sanjo turned his gaze at his storage pendant and yanked it off his neck.

It was time to confront what was inside it.

He was sure of one thing though; he wasn’t going to have a peaceful night.

To be continued…NEXT WEEK!