by CHIROLU
1: The Platinum-haired Maiden Reflects on the Past
They were kind, so they chose to pretend not to see. It wasn’t just Dale, as Chrysos was also very kind and pampered her. They said she didn’t need to know anything. Just having her back was enough to make them break out in satisfied smiles. That was undoubtedly how they truly felt.
Even so, Latina was unable to make the decision to leave things unknown.
†
“Platina... Platina.”
It took her a bit to realize she was being called. Looking up, Latina saw Chrysos sitting next to her, looking concerned.
“Chrysos...?”
“It would seem that you truly should not yet be pushing yourself. Let us end things here for today, so that you may take your time and relax,” Chrysos said.
Hearing those words, Latina realized that gaps had started appearing in the conversation between Dale, Rose, and Sylvia at some point. She hadn’t quite nodded off, but apparently her hazy consciousness had started to drift in and out.
Latina hurriedly forced a smile, and called out in a purposefully bright tone, “Don’t worry about me. Just keep on talking. I’ll be alright.”
“That won’t do.”
“Of course we won’t do that.”
The voices of both Chrysos and Dale rang out simultaneously, shutting down her proposal.
Chrysos looked at Dale with a sigh, and in acknowledgment he rose to his feet.
“Dale.”
“It’s not as if this is the sort of thing we need to discuss immediately, right?”
“That is correct.”
Latina had used a tone like she was taking Dale to task, but seeing how the overprotective natures of these two were flaring up at the moment, there had been no way that would work on them. The pair had only just recently been in a battle to the death, but now they seemed strangely in sync.
Dale approached the bench where the twin sisters were seated, and then easily picked up Latina. She settled into his arms so snugly that she wasn’t able to even budge an inch, much less try to resist.
Feeling shy in the face of Rose and Helmine’s gazes, Latina went red all the way to the tips of her ears. With a frail voice she protested, “I’m fine. I’m really alright, so at least put me down, Dale.”
“I won’t,” Dale said in blunt refusal, then exited the room with long strides. As Chrysos, who was in the highest position in this place, had given her permission, Rose and the others were unable to interject.
Vint and Hagel followed closely behind, their tails wagging along. While thinking that there wasn’t even the slightest chance of anything happening to Latina with the most frightful of all heroes and those mythical beasts guarding her, Chrysos gave a sigh and then leaned back into the bench.
Tracing back the path he had taken previously, Dale returned to the royal villa, where the refreshing breeze blew.
He occasionally stole glances at Latina, who wore an expression on her face that fell somewhere between troubled and embarrassed. She had already given up on her utterly futile protests that she was alright, and settled meekly into Dale’s arms.
“Are you going to change?” Dale asked, having put Latina down atop the bed in the villa.
“Yeah...” she replied, sounding sleepy. He didn’t even know where the clasp was on the delicate hair ornament she wore. Seeing Dale’s hesitation, a lady attendant who seemed to have been under orders from Chrysos hurried into the room.
To speak of Dale’s true feelings, he didn’t want to be separated from Latina even for a moment. But even so, he realized now wasn’t the time for a dispute, and yielded Latina to the attendant before leaving the room. Vint lay down at the foot of the bed, looking as if it was only natural to do so. Dale was well aware that though Vint tended to move to the beat of his own drum, he also acted like a faithful dog in many ways. He could trust that mythical beast to guard her more than he could any strong, brawny soldiers he wasn’t familiar with.
Hagel was lying down outside, his eyes closed. He opened his eyes just a sliver in response to Dale’s presence.
“You have successfully carried out your goal, have you not...?” Hagel asked quietly. With that, Dale realized that after having spent so long running, he could finally stand still.
“...Yeah.”
“What do you intend to do from now on?”
Hagel had been there watching all along as Dale kept on running straight ahead without so much as even glancing aside. The soaring wolf’s voice had a tone of relief to it, at the fact that everything was over.
“We’re going to take it easy here for a while. Latina’s still in no state to be moved. And if I make Latina push herself, I’ll probably end up in another battle to the death with Chrysos,” Dale responded, no longer any darkness or harshness to his tone.
Sensing that, Hagel closed his eyes with a look of satisfaction and laid back down.
“I see.”
Dale averted his gaze from Hagel, and then nonchalantly stated, “Thanks for sticking with me...”
Through some means or another, it had been a long partnership between the two of them. The soaring wolf should have understood the reason behind the emotions invested in his blunt statement.
Hagel’s response was a simple wag of his tail. Dale was grateful for the brief reply.
With his gaze still averted, Dale saw the sunlight sparkling on the surface of the flowing water. He wondered how long it had been since his heart had been calm enough for him to simply listen to the flow of water.
When the attendant exited the room, Dale once more went inside and approached Latina’s side.
Latina had fallen asleep in the bed, and the sound of her sleeping was somehow out of tune, just like always. Her complexion didn’t look bad, either, and her breathing wasn’t unrestful. Eliminating those potential causes for concern one after another, he then devoted himself to watching over her as she slept.
“Latina.”
He wasn’t seeking a response, as he had no intention of interrupting her sleep. Just being able to call her name in this way was enough to make him feel satisfied.
With a gentle smile on his face, Dale sat down in a position where he had a good view of Latina, and gave himself over to the simple joy of letting time slowly slip by.
As she’d been bedridden for a long time, Latina’s physical strength had diminished greatly. The fact that she remained able to move about without significant trouble, though, was clear proof that, while imperfect, demon lords were still akin to low-ranking gods.
Latina had broken free of the state she’d been in up until now, wherein she was hardly ever conscious. And yet, Latina still had to be forced to recuperate. She was left weak, easily fatigued, and in need of frequent rests. As a result, there wasn’t a great difference from how things had been up until now, drifting off into naps regardless of whether it was day or night.
Chrysos popped her face in between dealing with government affairs, and Sylvia kept an unchanging smile on her face, but neither of them discussed how things were progressing between Laband and Vassilios. Seeing her sister and friend’s intention to let her simply focus on her recovery rather than thinking about anything difficult, Latina didn’t ask for any details.
However, Latina was by nature a workaholic. For her, being told to just rest and not being given anything to do was terribly irritating. But even so, she realized it was necessary, so she didn’t say anything selfish and kept all those feelings inside. Latina was aware that she couldn’t move around well enough at the moment to make such requests.
As she spent that night in slumber as well, Latina stirred in the bed. Opening her eyes a bit, she saw the silk swaying in the night wind, lit ever so slightly by the moonlight. She realized that she’d been sleeping and rolled over.
“Hngh...”
There was a dark silhouette before her now that she’d turned over.
“Dale...?” Latina called out to it, not even needing to guess at the name of the shape’s owner.
“Hmm? What is it, Latina? Are you up?”
That kind voice belonged to just the person that Latina had expected. Dale reached out into the darkness without even a hint of hesitation and lit the lamp nearby. As that tiny bit of light illuminated the room, a gentle smile appeared on Dale’s face.
“It’s dark out...?”
“Well, it is nighttime,” Dale responded with a chuckle, then sat Latina up and put a pillow behind her back to support her. He took the glass bottle full of water that was waiting next to the lamp, used it to fill up the accompanying cup, and then brought that to Latina’s lips.
With this action that made it seem like she’d caught a cold, Latina’s cheeks went so red that it was possible to tell even in this poor light.
“Dale... I can do it myself, you know.”
“Come on, don’t say that, just drink up. Your voice is all hoarse.”
Dale lovingly hovered over her, always by her side, to such a degree that it was almost too much. Latina wasn’t at all surprised by the figure at her side and knew who it was precisely because this was how things always were as of late.
As she steadily gulped at the contents of the cup until it was empty, Latina realized that she really had been thirsty. She could see the expression on Dale’s face because he’d gotten so close, and it didn’t seem to be gloomy at all. But Latina still knitted her brows and said in an uneasy-sounding voice, “You’re worrying about me... but it’d be awful if you ended up collapsing in the process. I’m alright, so you need to get some proper rest.”
No matter what time Latina awoke, be it day or night, Dale was there by her side. She had no idea when he was eating or sleeping. Because she couldn’t keep an eye on him, she couldn’t help but worry that he was pushing himself.
Dale smiled in response to her words, and then stroked her hair like one would with a small child.
“I’m resting up properly, too. You don’t need to worry.”
“But...”
“And anyway, I really do just want to watch you, Latina... If I end up collapsing, then somebody else will end up looking after you, right? I can’t let that happen.”
As he thought that she really was kind for worrying about him, Dale broke out in a wide grin and kept stroking her hair. As if he’d reverted back to his old self, he was now in full on fawning, doting mode.
Ever since becoming a demon, Dale had been able to stay active with hardly any rest or food. He possessed an abnormal level of stamina, allowing him to even easily keep on swinging his blade, fighting on for three days and nights straight.
Dale was putting those high capabilities to use in a frivolous, regrettable direction, to keep watching over Latina. He was quite literally waiting on her day and night. To Dale as he was now, he was soothed just by the sight of watching Latina sleep. He was at his worst now, where he’d be willing to say he wouldn’t be bored in the least just watching her.
After spending so long being serious, the aftereffects proved to be more deplorable than just strong. And Latina, his “master,” still hadn’t realized that Dale had transformed into a being that completely defied all common sense.
She was able to get up more and more bit by bit, and her time awake became longer than her time asleep without pushing herself, so Latina started leaving the villa for walks. Latina was a bundle of curiosity, but she wasn’t allowed outside, so her strolls were kept within the temple. And since she needed to be accompanied by a lady-in-waiting whenever she did so, it was still a rather inconvenient situation for Latina.
However, around that time, Dale started to leave Latina’s side for at least a short time every now and then. He used that time to discuss matters with Chrysos that they couldn’t let Latina overhear: They agreed that if a new Demon Lord of Calamity appeared and threatened Latina, the Eighth Demon Lord, they would join together and smash that foe to a bloody pulp. In a way that would never appear officially in the pages of history, the most terrifying of heroes and the First Demon Lord had formed a pact.
And Dale had also used that time to offer information on Laband, now that Vassilios would open relations with the nation. As a noble of Laband, Rose would never say anything which could prove disadvantageous for her own country. She didn’t specialize in diplomacy, but she was very prudent and understood her own position. And Chrysos knew the position that Rose was in, too. Her personal fondness for Rose was something she separated fully from her official stance.
On the other hand, Dale wasn’t a Laband noble, and didn’t want to put Latina’s sister, Chrysos, as a disadvantage. And as a result, he included more of the negative aspects than Rose did when discussing the internal affairs of Laband.
When Dale was making one such visit to see Chrysos, Latina sent a lady-in-waiting to call for Rose.
The inside of the villa only had the bare minimum of furnishings. Latina greeted Rose while sitting atop the bed that took up the majority of the room. She urged Rose to take the seat by the side of the bed, where Dale usually sat.
“It would seem Sir Dale is not here today, yes?” Rose said with a smile. It had become the norm as of late for Dale to spend almost all of his time by Latina’s side.
“I think he’s with Chrysos right now,” Latina responded, looking straight at Rose. She wanted to look down in embarrassment, but she held that urge back through her utmost effort.
She felt like she really should have done this sooner. Even so, she’d let herself be indulged by Dale and Chrysos’s words, as they said that she didn’t need to know anything. Latina was confident that unlike that “doting idiot” and Chrysos with her “sister complex” who treated her like a small child, Rose would be willing to tell her even the things that may hurt her.
However, the thought that putting things off had served to protect her left a sense of painful weight behind, and she placed her hand above her heart.
“Lady Rose, what happened? What... what happened since I left Dale’s side...?”
Latina had started to get a vague sense of what had happened while she slept. But at the same time, she also sensed that she had brought it about, so she couldn’t keep on pretending not to notice.
“What did Sir Dale tell you...?”
“Dale won’t tell me anything... he said I don’t need to worry about anything, and that it’s fine... But I also know that’s not the case,” Latina said, then clenched both hands tight. “Please tell me. What happened?”
Rose sat silently, looking right at Latina. After about a minute of silence, Rose began in a quiet tone, “I am not as informed as you may believe. Uncle or Sir Gregor may know more, but what I am aware of amounts to little more than the rumors you could hear about town.”
Rose said that in advance. In personal settings, she referred to Duke Eldstedt affectionately as “Uncle.”
Rose also had her misgivings about Dale and Chrysos intentionally not informing Latina of the state of affairs. But in her current standing, it was difficult for her to go against the will of Latina’s guardian, Dale, and her sister, the ruler of Vassilios, Chrysos. Therefore, she had leaned more towards taking a wait-and-see approach. But with that said, she hadn’t been expressly forbidden, so she had no reason to refuse to grant Latina’s request.
“Is that acceptable?”
“Yes.”
Hearing Latina’s response, Rose once more sat in silence for a bit, thinking about where to start.
“I am not aware of precisely when it was that you left Dale’s side. The first time I heard of the matter, Sir Gregor was looking into the fact th
at Sir Dale had gone missing.”
“Huh?”
“Uncle didn’t tell me the details of the situation, but since Sir Gregor was worried about Sir Dale, I heard about it.”
“Dale... went missing...? What...?”
“I do not know what Sir Dale did at that time. But when Uncle summoned Sir Dale back afterwards to eliminate the Fourth Demon Lord, he was accompanied by the grown soaring wolf known as Hagel.”
“The Fourth Demon Lord...?” Latina asked, her voice trembling.
“In Vassilios, they’re referred to as the ‘Demon Lords of Calamity,’ yes? Those demon lords suddenly grew active. Laband fell prey to an attack by the Fourth Demon Lord, and suffered great losses,” Rose said, turning pale.
Latina had one question in response: “Why... why was Dale summoned to eliminate a demon lord? No matter how skilled an adventurer he may be...”
“Latina...?” Rose asked, looking surprised at Latina’s reaction. She thought about why Latina wouldn’t know about that. She couldn’t come up with any reason on the spot, but she sensed that this was one of the things that Dale had intentionally been hiding.
“Sir Dale is someone who was granted several instances of divine protection from the gods of the seven colors. As the antithesis of a demon lord, his blade has the power to strike them down.”
“Huh...?”
“Dale possesses a power that makes him what is known as a ‘hero.’”
“Huh...? Huh?”
Latina looked absolutely befuddled in response to Rose’s words, and then came to understand a moment later, only to become confused once more and break out in a sweat for some reason. Her gaze darted about, never settling down, showing clearly how out of sorts she was at the moment.
“Dale... is a hero?”
“Yes.”
“So... he can defeat demon lords, then...?”
“It still does not become an easy task, but with Sir Dale present, there is at least a possibility of doing so. And so, with him accompanying them, Sir Gregor and the others departed to defeat the demon lords and their demons.”
“So... Dale defeated the Fourth Demon Lord?”
