It's been a year since then.
　Merlin's corpse is a bit of a badge of honor for Merlin but I've been able to use it for diplomatic fodder.

　You attempted an assassination attempt on me. What can you do about it?
　Mr. Roselle?

　It's a shakeup.

　General Balthazar tried to get away with a single "he's not our sorcerer anymore" and, well, I guess it was a real hit....
　It's no secret that Merlin is one of the leading spellcasters in the Roselle Kingdom.

　And, well, as for the details, Ial wields his oratory........
　As a result, he succeeded in receiving many of Merlin's research materials.

　From the warrior-skinned General Balthazar's point of view, Merlin's relics, such as research materials on witchcraft, were not much important, and were probably even creepier than that.
　He gave them away gracefully.
　If anything, hooray for being able to let go of the cursed doll....
　It was like that.

　I also found a number of what looked like Merlin's secret research facilities in various parts of Northern Adelnia, and I was able to secure a number of materials from them as well.

　When I showed them to Julia and Tetra, they said that they were still a step or two ahead of the Romarian Kingdom's spellcasting research, not just a step or two, but about ten steps ahead.
　Other things like being a fairy, or a gryphon, or thoughts on otherworldly reincarnations and transitions...

　To put it bluntly, from our side, it's a valuable substitute for more than just territory.

　The greatest gains we've made in the battle against the Roselle Kingdom may not be in Northern Adelnia, but in these research materials.

　I'm going to gather the elite of our country's spellcasters, including Yulia, Tetra, So Yeon and the others, to study the relics of Merlin.
　

　It was good to get new knowledge, but I wanted to discover it myself if possible.
　Of all things, that Merlin knowledge.....
　It's like that.

　Julia and Tetra were also depressed, saying that they couldn't win until the end.

　That's because it's obvious that we can't win against eight hundred years old no matter how we try.

　For me, I'm happy because our country's technology is going to improve by leaps and bounds.


　Now, the question is.....









　It's been a long time, Master Gryphon.
　Yeah, it's been a while.

　I saw Master Gryphon again for the first time in a year.
　Master Gryphon shifted his gaze to the packages I had brought in the wagon.

　'If one is Merlin's body what is the other?
　I'll explain it later.

　
　That place.........is the deepest part of the sanctuary that I've never stepped into before.

　''It's here.

　Master Gryphon pointed with his feather, and there it was....
　A stone the size of a man's head was choked up.

　'It's Etzel's grave,'

　Etzel the Great.
　The grave of a man who was once Merlin's, or rather Mari Kurosaki's, lover.

　I don't know much about their relationship either, but....
　It would be better to bury them together.

　I decide.

　I unload the coffin from the top of the wagon.
　Then I open the lid I take one look inside.

　The wound is stitched up tightly and Julia has embalmed it.......
　Even after a year has passed, he still looks like he's still alive........


　I wasn't sure if I should be cremated or not, but I heard that the Alvans and Gauls were not cremated, but buried in the ground.
　I heard that Etzel the Great was also buried in the ground, so it should be the same.
　I decided to go with it.

　Well, I don't even know if the Kurosaki family is a house of cremation in the first place.
　Christians........it didn't look like they were Christians, but if they were Christians, they would have been buried in the ground.

　'By the way........is this why you didn't keep people out of the sanctuary, because of the tomb of Etzel the Great?'

　I asked Gryphon-sama.
　

　Well, I was in a bit of trouble because the Roselle Kingdom refused to receive my body, so it was a crossover.

　''How could it be, do you think he has the character to be my grave keeper?''
　If that's the case...

　Why are they allowing me to build Etzel the Great's and Mari Kurosaki's tomb in the sanctuary?
　When I tried to ask that........

　'Merlin I was begged by Mari. She asked me to please let her build it in the forest because it would be destroyed in a normal place. He said no one would destroy it there. It would be a foolish thing for me to ask for a tomb, but I ask too desperately.

　Well......
　And if there is one, the second one is not much different.

　Well, surely no one would break it here.
　Or rather, you can't break it.

　No one can come here.

　By the way, Gryphon-sama.
　...Yes, but so what?
　In other words, what me and Mari Kurosaki want........is another half. That's how it works, isn't it?

　Does it smell a little cryptic?
　So I ask you with that in mind....

　'I see, that's true. So what's your point?

　Apparently, he's listening.
　Thank goodness....

　I pointed to the luggage on the back of the truck and said to Gryphon-sama.


　''What I have here are ... Kurosaki Mari's diary and her personal belongings. I'll bury them with her body so please take care of them for me?

　General Balthazar disposed of almost all of the objects related to Kurosaki Mari, forcing them into our country.
　Among them were many of these personal items mixed in with the research materials of witchcraft as well.

　
　But that didn't mean........I couldn't bring myself to burn them.

　But to keep it in my country it's not good.
　It could be burned after I'm dead.

　After a brief moment of contemplation about how to dispose of it...
　We decided that it was best to have Master Gryphon protect us.

　And.........

　Perhaps.........in the future, a relative of Kurosaki Mari may visit you. At that time........could you give this to that family?

　As a matter of fact I don't know if her family will be able to get to know Gryphon-sama.
　To say the least, it's unlikely.

　But.........just as Kurosaki Mari desperately searched for her family, her family will also desperately search for her.
　The chances are not zero.
　If it's not zero, then I have to leave it behind.

　This ... could be ... ego.
　To her family, I am the avenger of a man they hated.

　But ... still, I decided that I had to leave them behind.


　"Is there a necklace of blue stones in your personal belongings that you would like to keep, Alms?
　A blue stone necklace...?

　I don't think it was ... it wasn't there.
　Most of her personal effects were diary entries on tablet and papyrus.

　As for the ornaments I don't think they're there.

　No, sir, but what's the problem?
　No, I wish it wasn't there.

　Master Gryphon shook his head.

　'By the way, um, can you protect me?'
　It's a matter of graves. I just can't guarantee that his family will be here, and I'm not going to go looking for them.
　I know, sir.

　I can't ask for that much of a quandary.
　

　This is all we can do but pray.


　''Then, Gryphon-sama, I'll come back to greet you in the New Year.
　Yeah, I'll see you later.

　I bowed to Gryphon-sama and turned away.





　Now ... it's all over.
　Of course, there are many domestic issues.

　The governance of Northern Adelnia, the maintenance of the Romalia Federation, the gap between rich and poor that has begun to emerge within the country, the repayment of the enormous loan with the Persis Empire.......

　But it all comes to a close.





　This is the real ... end.