(CHAPTER 94)
“I wouldn’t know, would I?”
Startled by the sudden voice behind him, Sian quickly turned his head.
A familiar face stood there.
“What are you doing here? They say a guest is waiting, so shouldn’t you hurry up? You’ve completely lost your discipline as a holy knight.”
He was wearing a Mage Tower magician’s robe.
It was Jahar Knox.
“So the magician who left the Mage Tower was you?”
“Who else did you think it would be?”
At Jahar’s question, Sian closed his mouth.
Since he only ever talked about the temple and nothing else, there was no way he would have acquaintances at the Mage Tower.
“Is this the room Jerena used?”
Standing behind Sian, he looked into the room over his shoulder.
“How did you know?”
“It’s empty.”
Jahar shrugged as if asking something obvious.
“Her room at our old house was super empty too. Didn’t you know?”
……
“Huh, seriously?”
Sian had nothing to say.
He really didn’t know.
Sian himself was not attached to possessions, and Jerena was not the type to complain about such things either.
On top of that, his belief that “entering a lady’s room without permission is rude” played a part.
Among those who lived together, Sian was probably the one who visited Jerena’s room the least.
If he had known his feelings from the beginning, it might have been different, but he had only realized them recently.
Still, having a reason and accepting it were two different things.
With a heavy heart, Sian closed Jerena’s door and headed to the reception room with Jahar.
“What is this about?”
He had assumed it was related to the demons visiting the human world, but seeing Jahar made him think it might be personal.
Sitting across from Sian, Jahar stared at his teacup and remained silent until the servants left.
“When is Jerena coming back?”
“…I don’t know. She said she would return after sorting things out.”
So it really was personal.
Sian felt slightly relieved.
If even the Mage Tower magicians got involved in deciding Jerena’s fate, it would be a nightmare.
“I heard the general situation. The demons showed up, right?”
“Yes.”
That was expected.
But when Jahar spoke again, Sian froze.
“……I actually heard everything. What are you going to do?”
Jahar lowered his voice and asked carefully.
He left out the key words, but Sian understood immediately.
It was the problem he had been thinking about nonstop.
“How do you know about that?”
This had not been made public anywhere.
Nothing had been decided yet.
Only those present should have known.
And it had happened at the Grand Temple, not the Mage Tower.
Sian’s eyes filled with confusion and displeasure.
Jahar quickly waved his hands.
“Hey, don’t misunderstand. It’s not like that. Ratia told me.”
“…Ratia did?”
“Yeah. She panicked when Jerena’s presence disappeared. She even went to the temple to look for you.”
Jahar showed no sign of lying.
So Ratia had heard and passed it on.
“Who else knows?”
“Who would know? Just me and Ratia.”
……
“Seriously. Even the Spirit Kings don’t know yet.”
Hearing that, Sian finally relaxed a little.
That was a small relief.
If the Spirit Kings knew, their answer would be obvious.
They prioritized balance above all else.
Predicting their response was not difficult.
Jahar spoke again as Sian sighed.
“So, what will you do?”
He wasn’t pressuring him.
He was just asking.
“……I don’t know.”
After a long pause, Sian finally answered.
Jahar glanced at him.
It was unexpected.
Sian had always seemed rigid and principled.
“Well, I don’t want Jerena to die either.”
“And honestly, war isn’t necessarily something that must be avoided.”
To Jahar, Jerena’s life mattered more than countless strangers.
“I heard the decision is up to you. Is that true?”
“It seems so. I don’t know how it came to this.”
Jahar narrowed his eyes.
“Leaving something like that to a mere knight commander?”
His doubt was reasonable.
“Well, think carefully.”
It wasn’t his problem anyway.
He was confident he would survive even if war broke out.
That was why he could be indifferent.
He only wanted to focus on his research.
Whatever Sian chose would not affect him much.
“Not that I can do anything about it.”
Jahar didn’t want to burden him further.
“Shall we talk about what we can disclose now?”
He took out documents from his bag.
“This is a report on abnormal mana movement, this is witness testimony, and this is…”
He placed the documents in front of Sian.
He patted Sian’s shoulder encouragingly.
“What should I… do?”
“Huh?”
“If it were you, what would you choose?”
Jahar understood immediately.
He crossed his arms.
“If it were me—”
***
“Demon King, Demon King. Don’t you think this might be a mistake?”
“What?”
As I walked while keeping my body low, I turned at the voice behind me.
“No matter how I think about it, I’m not suited to assisting you. Wouldn’t it be better to bring a more useful demon?”
So he wanted to go home.
Raon, Illay’s assistant and a stealth-type demon, began passionately explaining how useless he was.
I had no intention of listening.
Raon and I were inside the gate through which six demons had descended to the human world.
The passage was extremely long.
It was a side effect of a naturally opened gate, not one created by my authority.
“Ah, found it.”
I narrowed my eyes after discovering something.
“-So I’m saying, compared to me, other capable demons would be—”
“Could you be quiet for a moment? There…”
