The next day.
　After discussing it with Lucius, they decided to hold a barbecue in the garden to cheer up the Toa.
　The demon tribe didn't have a barbecue tradition, so it didn't get through to them at first, but with a word of "let's do it", they decided to do it.

　Originally, Sierra learned about it from her father, Mr. Brown.
　Of course I knew about it before that, but I'm more of an indoor person, and I'm not the type of person who likes to barbecue.
　But I remember feeling differently under this clear, otherworldly sky.
　This time it was the sky of the demon country.......I wanted to bring Sierra with me.

''Toa, how are you feeling?''

　The Toa sat on the steps of the balcony facing the garden with the same expression as usual, with no particular sadness in his eyes.

'I'm fine,'
Toa, you know, about yesterday--
I know.
....
You've been to Lagoparos.
Yeah.
"I'm sorry", Toa slumped. I shouldn't have let you kill him.
I don't care. I don't care about that. There's no Demon King in Lagoparos anymore.
Yeah. Hey, Masamune, so, about that whole "domination" thing. I don't remember it very well.
It's in me now.
Yes, Father told me. He said Masamune removed it. But is she all right?　It's--
I'm fine.
Really?
Yeah.

　It was a close call when Sonoda lectured me with a serious look on his face.
　It's still too hard to learn to use it right away, no matter what.
　Then Lucius-san brought me some meat on a plate.
　It's just a strange feeling to have an eyebrow-less demon king helping to serve food.
　But that's how worried this person must be about Toa, too. His expression was feigning an unusually good mood.

'Toa, the meat is cooked.
Thank you.

　He and Lucius took turns switching places with Lucius-san.

　By the side of the garden, Nem was having Lisa-san practice her sword.
　It seems that Nem has grown up a lot without knowing it.
　Sufilia was still indulging in reading under the shade of a tree.
　I gently approached her.

''Shouldn't you be looking at Toa?
''Eh......... Lucius-san is watching you now.
'I see. That's tough.

　He's in a particularly bad mood.

How's that research thing going?
...I'm not sure. The rest is just a matter of when the opportunity arises.
Opportunity?
Forget that, Masamune. Have you been in the Devil's Land all this time, Masamune-sama?
Yeah, he was there all the time.
Okay.
Yeah, what's the confirmation?
No, I was just asking.
Do you have somewhere to go?
'No, sir, not really. The archives are full of interesting books, and I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to...
Well ... okay. Okay.

　The conversation didn't get off the ground.

　The smile on Toa's face as she is sandwiched between her mother and her father is smiling.
　However, Toa must be struggling with grief right now.
　Guilt over his sister's death and the killing of Cassandra.
　It was smiling, but I couldn't watch Toa's expression that much.

　I can't bring myself to use my emotional sensing.
　I don't want to admit that I have to use magic(...) to understand it.
　I should be able to understand the heart of Toa with my own senses.
　At that moment, something suddenly shot out of the forest all at once.
　The noise caused everyone present to look up at the sky.

''What the........''

　Mr. Lucius stands up and leaves Toa's side for a bit.

'Mr. Lucius, I'm going to go and see what I can do.
But...
It's okay. We're having a party today. Enjoy this time with your family.

　I smiled at Nem and Sufilia and told them that it was no problem.
　And I pretended to be as normal as possible so that they wouldn't realize it.


o



　Leaving the demon king's castle and entering the forest, Masamune walked for a while in a different direction from the town.
　Then he suddenly stopped.

What do you mean? At the point of contact...
Adolf was there.
...What?

　The White One - Amadeus and Masamune - faced each other in the forest, where the sun was shining through the trees.

'We lost,'
Wait, Adolf? ...What does that mean? What have you been doing? What the hell have you been doing since...
'Unlock the spell, it's faster,' said Amadeus, extending his hand to Masamune. And then I heard a noise from behind me.
'Who's that?' said Masamune. In an instant, the air was killing.

　But the killing atmosphere disappeared as Lucius appeared from behind the trees.

'What does this mean? 'He is, I believe, of the lineage of the Charity.'

　Lucius claims to have no interest in humans, yet he knows a lot about the affairs of the human land.
　Masamune has been wondering about this for quite some time.

''Lucius-san...'' sighed Masamune deeply, ''Why are you following me?
'Lucius-san, it's me,' said Amadeus. The white mask becomes a particle.

　Lucius wondered at the sound of his voice. But when Amadeus' true face was exposed, his expression gradually changed to one of grim astonishment.

''........Same, face. Masamune-kun........is that you?''

　There were two Masamune's there.
　One is dressed in a white robe with broad shoulders and the other is the Masamune Lucius usually sees. Right now he is wearing a brown robe.

''What the hell is this...''

　Lucius was simply puzzled.
　No matter how much he thought about it, there was no answer.
　But right after Amadeus and Masamune joined hands and said, ''This is how it is,'' Amadeus' body bent languidly and walked into Masamune, and there was only Masamune alone in his brown robes.

''Ridiculous................''

　Masamune was depressed and silent for a moment.

''I didn't think you--''
Ankh Amadeus is me.

　Lucius' expression gradually grew grim.