Volume 9 Chapter 6 Reunion with Naje
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Takumi-sama…”
It was a familiar voice. But why? Tonight, I should have been with Nyx. Instead, the women dragged her away to console her. They told me it was better if I stayed out of it, and truthfully, I had no desire to force myself into intimacy on such a night. So I lay down alone, lonely, while in the next room Clarice snored loudly beneath a defensive barrier.
”So late at night… who could it be?” I asked.
”It is me… you may find it hard to believe.”
”So it really is you, Naje.”
”Yes. But I exist only as a soul. Please forgive me for speaking to you only as a voice.”
I looked around the room, searching every corner, but nothing changed. Truly, she was here only as spirit—another impossibility made real in this strange world.
”How did you manage to come to me?” I asked.
”Our corpses were displayed, but our souls had already been sent to the Underworld… when its gates opened, my spirit returned to this world.”
That possibility had been spoken of by Weed and the others, ever since the Depths of the Labyrinth revealed both the First Emperor and the Eternal Witch Cartera.
”I see…”
”Not only I. My aide Tymis, Captain Amira, and Seron Duchy’s fallen ‘Adamant Witch’ Beria—all were summoned and given bodies through magic stones. Takumi-sama, the dead gather in the Labyrinth, preparing to invade McGaref.”
”Invade McGaref…?” I murmured.
”Yes. The commander is the Quvar First Emperor. Countless generals and witches from the old empire stand beside him. They slay Labyrinth monsters and harvest their magic stones to increase their army. They have nearly stripped the middle layers bare. Unfortunate adventurers they encounter are slain in secret. They are even in contact with envoys from the Quvar Empire, aligning the time of invasion. The First Emperor presses for war without delay. Please, you must return swiftly.”
In my mind, I calculated. From Seron’s capital to McGaref would take at least three days. Seron had almost no forces left; war had shattered them, and the survivors were scattered maintaining law and order in the provinces. To recall them and muster arms would take another day or two. That meant four, maybe five days before any true defense could be ready.
And Haruka in Lesta… even if I sent word now, it would take another five days before she could respond. My head ached. I would need Weed’s aid at once.
”Naje… thank you. But that means you stand with the enemy once more,” I said.
”This time, I will be a worm in their heart. Fortunately, they do not know that I loved you before my execution. To them, I am only a general seeking vengeance.”
It was true. From the outside, it would seem I had taken her captive, violated her, and executed her the very next day. Who would imagine that in those brief hours we had truly become lovers?
”For now, forgive me… I must face you as an enemy. Still, I will act to spare McGaref as much harm as I can.”
”Even those words give me strength,” I said softly.
”And when the time comes, I will betray them without mercy. The First Emperor and the Eternal Witch—I will shatter their bodies of stone and return their souls to the Underworld.”
Listening to her, a small doubt grew in me, and I voiced it.
”Naje… if you do not die, could a body made from magic stone endure?”
”That I cannot say. This is the first time the Underworld has opened. Even my drifting spirit exists only because my displayed corpse anchored me to this world. Tymis and Amira have already gone to Nyx-sama.”
Her body lay not far, in the catacombs. That explained how her soul, freed from its stone vessel, could reach me through the remains.
”If it were possible… I would want you to live again. I do not want to lose you a second time.”
”Takumi-sama, we are already dead. To let the dead live again would be wrong… it would tempt others to force open the Underworld.”
Her voice carried sorrow and helplessness. I knew I was selfish. I knew it broke reason and morality. But still—I could not hold back that feeling.
”I never wanted to kill you,” I whispered.
”I know. I hold no grudge. Rather, I regret forcing such a cruel duty upon you.”
”Naje… Natalie and Eil-Eil are safe in McGaref. Eil-Eil even calls me ‘big brother’ now. She’s grown so much brighter.”
”Truly? That gladdens me.”
And so we spoke—of war, of memories, of nothing at all. I did not know how long. By the time I noticed, morning had come. Naje was gone. In her place, Nyx clung to me, her eyes swollen from weeping.
”Good morning, Nyx.”
”Good morning, Takumi-sama… Naje-sama came here, didn’t she?”
”Yes. She came.”
”She visited me as well… to apologize.”
”I see. Forgive me, I kept her with me too long.”
”No… not at all. Naje-sama told me, after the war ends, she wishes for me to strike her down and return her to stone.”
So Natalie and Eil-Eil had escaped her vengeance, but Naje she would kill? I doubted it. I stroked her hair with my fingers, thinking so—until she surprised me.
”I asked her instead to keep her body and work for Lesta and Seron. That, I said, would be her atonement.”
”Are you sure? She was your direct enemy.”
I remembered her screams, her tears in the day. How could she bear it? Yet Nyx continued.
”I told her I could never forgive her—for slaying my father and brother, for driving my mother to suicide. I spat out my hatred. And when I said it, my heart felt lighter. So I told her: live, and work, even if I hate you still.”
Her smile carried no pretense. Nyx had found where to place her grief.
”Then promise me—no blades drawn.”
”Of course. In front of you, I will be at peace. I will share your bed and your pillow without hesitation.”
She laughed softly, and we kissed. With fragile hope for the future, I went to meet the others of Seron in council.
Notes:
• Clarice – The ‘Witch of Abundance’ from Lesta Kingdom.
• Nyx – The First Princess of Celon Dukedom, who escapes to McGaref; next in line to the throne after the Queen’s expected death.
• Naje – First princess of the Lesta Kingdom and deputy commander. The tragic princess of the Lesta Kingdom who was executed for her country.
• Weed – He is a retired knight and martial arts master, appeared as a sword seller, known for his bloodthirsty grin and elite ‘Sword Master’ skill.
• McGaref – Fortress city, adventurer hub.
• Amira – Captain of the guard who complies with surrender terms.
• Tymis – Deputy commander of the Lesta Kingdom.
• Haruka – 3rd Division leader. Aspires to be Takumi’s GF.
• Natalie – A famous courtesan and former noblewoman; platinum blonde, busty, and elegant; known as Natalie Barklem, daughter of the Duke of Lesta Kingdom.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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