It was a forest shrouded in deep darkness.
Calvin moved between the shadows, hiding his body as he surveyed the surroundings.
This was likely the place where Lucifer and his subordinates had stayed after their escape. But they were not here. It seemed they had already left. Calvin searched the area, as if trying to find any remaining traces.
“…What is this?”
At that moment, something caught Calvin’s eye.
It was a grotesque creature, its head and body separated.
“Is it a chimera?”
Seeing it sprawled out like this, it seemed to be a failed experiment. But despite being a failure, the aura emanating from it was ominous. Calvin swallowed dryly.
“The Demon King’s prediction was correct.”
Lucart had assumed that they wanted the merfolk’s blood to create a chimera. Since the number of angels was definitely small, chimeras were a more suitable option for creating an army capable of resistance.
“But it’s incomplete. Even with hundreds of attempts, it would still fail.”
At least they hadn’t succeeded in creating it yet, but was that a relief, or should they be worried because they might succeed someday?
Whatever it was, Calvin just wanted to kill these damn angels as soon as possible. How dare those lowly beings block their path?
“I want to kill them, but they probably won’t show up for a while.”
From the traces, it seemed that Lucifer was not in his full state like before. If they wanted to return to the way they were, it would take a long time.
“Maybe that’s a blessing.”
Calvin let out a bitter laugh.
He hated himself for thinking of such blessings in a situation like this. To be exact, he despised the fact that he couldn’t escape the human world and had to struggle to live in this miserable situation.
His motivation and future were slowly fading away.
Calvin suddenly took out the black spinel that Shekina had secretly given him and held it up.
– Don’t tell Boss about this. I secretly took one from the stash.
Inside the black spinel was pure magi. The density of the magi was so strong that just looking at it was enough to make one feel intoxicated. Calvin gripped the spinel tightly and took a deep breath.
When he first met Shekina, he had thought she was an arrogant fool, but she had the abilities to match her arrogance.
Who could have imagined that someone would be able to touch magi again? That absurd possibility had been made real by Shekina.
“…Soon.”
He would be able to return soon.
Calvin grinned and looked around.
Before returning to the castle, he intended to find something to give Shekina as thanks.
***
They were going to watch the monsters.
Could the words ‘monsters’ and ‘watch’ really go together?
To be honest, Benita wanted to say he didn’t want to go. He wanted to shout, ‘Why should I experience something like that?’
But he couldn’t. Why?
Because he had made mistakes.
He had beaten up the child known as Shekina’s subordinate like that, and if he refused the offer here, Shekina might hold a grudge.
Benita had not come all the way to this northern place to end up with that kind of result, so he had no choice but to accept the proposal.
He also had to consider Ferda’s gaze.
“………”
Benita glanced sideways at Shekina.
He had come all the way here, only listening to the Empress’s words, to meet Shekina. He had been told to somehow establish a connection with Shekina and, in the end, form an alliance.
So, Benita thought that no matter what Shekina was like, he would follow the Empress’s orders.
But…
He hadn’t been told she was this cute!
Shekina had her curly purple hair braided into two sections, with chubby cheeks and large eyes that seemed to take up half of her face. Her transparent light blue eyes looked like they were meticulously combed, resembling a doll.
Since she was young, she was cute, but Benita thought that if Shekina grew up, she would undoubtedly become a stunning beauty.
And in the future, he would be by her side.
As her fiancé, and eventually, as her husband…
A smile appeared on Benita’s lips.
Thump-thump. Benita tried to suppress his racing heart and coughed lightly.
“Isn’t watching monsters dangerous?”
Shekina, who had been staring blankly at the mountain, turned her head at last.
“Uh-huh, it’s not dangerous at all. We’re just going to watch from far away, that’s all.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
Yeah, it might seem safe to watch the monsters from a great distance, but that wasn’t what Shekina had in mind. Her goal was to teach that damn prince a lesson!
But not wanting to say that outright, Shekina smiled again and pulled at Benita’s sleeve.
“What was it that Lord Ferda gave you earlier?”
“Ah!”
Benita looked at Shekina’s tiny hand that had touched him, and his cheeks turned slightly red.
“It’s a flying carpet enchanted with levitation magic. He said we can ride it to get there.”
“Oooh.”
“You’re probably seeing a magical tool like this for the first time, huh?”
Benita said with a boastful tone.
“Things are likely scarce up here in the North, so making magical tools wouldn’t be easy.”
What is he talking about? There are magical tools lying around in the warehouse right now. Isn’t Sebastian also making magical tools?
“If you go to the capital, you’ll see better ones than this. It’s a different level from this barren North.”
Is this guy looking down on us?
From this brief conversation, Shekina could clearly understand Benita’s personality.
Surely, in the past, Yuriel had said that Benita was a fragile and timid child.
But the Benita standing before her now didn’t seem fragile or timid at all. So, was Yuriel lying? Or had Yuriel just seen him in a different light?
‘No.’
Yuriel must have been right. But the situation Yuriel saw was different from what Shekina was witnessing now.
He must have seen him at the palace. Surrounded by the Empress, the Emperor, and high-ranking priests.
That was when Benita had probably appeared timid and shy, as there was no one he could defeat.
But here? In the North?
‘He thinks he can dominate here.’
He was the typical type who is weak against the strong but domineering toward the weak.
Shekina truly hated people like this.
“Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s amazing!”
“Right?!”
Unaware of Shekina’s true feelings, Benita smiled brightly and placed Shekina on the carpet. He quickly recited a spell he had prepared earlier, and the carpet immediately began to float into the sky.
“Do we just go up like this?”
Benita pointed towards the snow-capped mountain.
“Yes, if we reach near the top, we’ll be able to see the monster in full view.”
“In that case, it shouldn’t be too dangerous.”
“Yes.”
Even while flying, Benita kept glancing at Shekina, seemingly pondering what to say to earn points from the cute girl next to him.
“If anything dangerous happens, just trust me. I’ll save you.”
“…Okay.”
“No, I won’t even let you get into danger in the first place. I swear on my name.”
“…Yes.”
Wasn’t that a perfect response? Not only had he earned a high score, but Sekina might even fall for him. With a sly grin, Benita skillfully maneuvered the carpet.
This carpet was a magical item imbued with Ferda’s magic.
Usually, a magic item that left its owner would fail to function properly, but Ferda was someone exceptional—one of the top mages of the imperial family.
The carpet still had enough magical energy to make a few round trips for Benita. So, Benita wasn’t worried.
However, the carpet suddenly twisted and began to curl up.
“Uh?”
Benita widened his eyes, gripping the carpet tightly.
“Why is it doing this?”
Completely unaware that Shekina was using the magic tool she had acquired from Sebastian to absorb magic, Benita panicked. The carpet wasn’t responding to his commands!
“Lady! Be careful! The magic…!”
Just then, the carpet sped up, suddenly spinning in circles.
“Ugh!”
Why is this crazy tool acting like this?
Benita felt nauseous as his stomach turned. But since Shekina, sitting beside him, seemed fine, he couldn’t show his discomfort.
“Hold on tight! I’ll stabilize it soon!”
Benita injected magic into the carpet, but it had no effect. In fact, the carpet started to go haywire even more.
“This crazy…!”
At that moment, half of the carpet Benita was sitting on suddenly folded. The tilt and the spinning made it impossible for him to resist and he was thrown off.
“AAAH!”
“Your Highness!”
Shekina finally reached out toward Benita, but Benita was already falling toward the snowy mountain.
“Wow…”
At that moment, Shekina released the magical tool, and the carpet quickly stabilized.
“Wh-what should we do? This is such a mess.”
Yeah, it was a real predicament.
She couldn’t hold back her laughter.
