'Nay did you say nay?　I didn't know you were on this side of the world.
'My name is...?　Did Endemuon tell you that?
Yeah. Mel told me about it.

　As soon as I heard those words, Nay came over to me and grabbed my chest. Seeing this, the knights of the gatekeepers pointed their spears at Ney, but I stopped them with my hand to tell them it was okay.

''You!　How do you know about The King?　Don't tell me The King is back!　Where is he?　Tell me!
...[Power rise]
''Guh, oh!?''

　He grabbed Ney's arm and twisted it up and threw it into the castle moat. With a great splash, the thrown Ney sank. Apparently even the dominant species can't swim in the body of a crystalline life form, even if it is the dominant species.
　Eventually, like a column of water, Ney jumped out of the moat. It seems that he jumped from the bottom of the water.

''You........!
Both Ende and Mel are with me where I'm keeping them, in good faith. I'll let Lise see them, but I can't let you see them as they are.
What...what...?
'Mel wants to talk. And he doesn't want anyone to get hurt. As long as you act against us, I'm not going to let you meet him.
I don't give a d*mn who you are...

　Lise, who was beside him, stopped Nei, who was transforming her body with a crunching motion and wearing a crystalline body like armor, and was getting into a fighting state.

Nay, calm down. It's not just a matter of time before you get your hands on a new one. Besides, you have something to tell the "king" now, right?
That's... yeah...
I don't think he's the kind of person who would harm the King. And that one defeated Gira.　Are you an easy match for that opponent?
''I understand. You're right, Lise is right, we have to see the 'King' first.

　Muttering that, Ney unravels his battle form. Apparently, Lise convinced her to do so. I've heard that Lise is more of a sister, but it seems like it's the other way around.

''So, what should we do?''
You'll have to enter the wards, just like Ende and the others. Otherwise, I can't take you there.
Okay.

　Lise nodded, but Ney turned away, telling her to do as she pleased. You responded quite honestly. Or are you licking your pants that wards created by humans can be easily broken?
　A 【Prison】 filled with divine energy is deployed around the two of them. It would be unbearable if they were to be rampaged by Babylon (up).
　Noticing the barrier strung up around them, Ney raises his corner of the eye slightly, but Lise was tapping on the 【Prison】 barrier with interest.
　By bringing Ney and Mel together, they might be able to avoid a battle with Frase. However, if they made a mistake, it could lead to an all-out confrontation.
　Well, since Ney had already trapped him in the [Prison], he's a caged bird.
　If this was the dominant species on the mutant side with the subordinate god's divinity, though, it might have been destroyed like it was with Ende.
　I take out my phone and call Mel and Ende. I gave the phone to those two guys as well.
　Because those two are under house arrest in Babylon's limited space, they can only spend their free time reading books or playing games and so on. From time to time, though, they're said to be flirting in Sheska's "garden". He seems to be relaxing there today as well.

'Yeah, yeah. Lise and Ney are here. I'm making the transition now. .... you might want to prepare yourself for the likelihood of getting beaten up.

　He said that to Ende and hung up the call. I don't know what he was ranting about, but I don't know. Well, if I tried to hit him, I'm sure Mel would stop me.

I'm leaving then.

　The two of them nodded. Per [Prison], I took the two of them and transitioned to the gardens of Babylon with [Teleport].
　The backdrop of a sea of clouds in the night sky, the grass and trees growing under the moon, and the waterway running through the flowers. Under the trees in such a beautiful hanging garden, Mel was standing alone.
　Huh?　Ende is gone. Did he get away?

"'King'......... Mel-sama.........Mel-sama!　Gah!

　Nay saw Mel's appearance and ran with great vigor────he crashed into the 【Prison】 barrier and hit his head with a heavy hand.
　Oh, don't glare at me. Was that my fault?
　He comes over to us from Mel's side with a worried look. I have another [Prison] strung up in the garden, so Lise and the others have released it.

''Mel-sama........''
It's been a while. Nay.

　Nay's voice trembled from the joy of finally meeting his own king as he fell to his knees and held Mel's proffered hand.

'And Lise. It's good to see you looking well.
Yes.

　Hmm?　Did Lise just laugh?　Expressionlessness is unusual for her default.

'Touya-san. Thank you for bringing Lise and Ney to me.''
I have my own agenda. I want you to take this opportunity to get to know each other. I hope it won't cause you and your friends to do more harm than good in this world.
"Now that the King is found, there's no reason for us to attack you.
Ha. Thank God for that. If this keeps up, we're going to have to wipe out all of the Freys.

　Ney glares at me. But you can't say this much. You have no idea how many people have died for your own reasons.
　It's true that I'm fighting back. But if you hit someone, you can't blame them for hitting you back. Most people don't have a hobby of being killed without a fight.
　As the detective said, "Only a man should be shot if he's prepared to be shot.

"...you will not be exterminated by us anymore. Already most of our troops have been taken in by the 'gold'...
'Gold?　Oh, you mean the mutants.
"Mutants ... a strange way to put it, but you're right. We were attacked by those traitors, Leto and Lutto, who led them, and most of them have been absorbed by us. We have no way to resist them. Those who are captured will be golden mutants who will no longer be our brothers and sisters. We are the ones being hunted.

　It's as if the cells of the evil gods are infected, like a pathogen, and are forced to be remade into another life form.
　It's like a situation in a panic movie where the bitten become zombies. The infected can no longer be saved.
　It's ironic that your own natural enemy came from your own people.

"You've done the same thing in other worlds. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?
..........

　Ney didn't respond. Nay, this sounds like I'm a weak bully.
　If someone close to me had died or been hurt, I would have had to deal with this, but I have no deep-seated resentment toward Fraise.
　To be honest, that's all that matters, as long as he or she walks away from this world.

Well, for now, the four of us are going to talk about it.
...Four?

　Lise tilts her head.

'You're behind that tree over there. The one hiding.
'Don't give me away, Winter Night...'

　Ende shows up from behind the tree with a buzzed look on his face. I can see the scarf flickering from earlier.
　And a flame dwells in Ney's eyes as he catches Ende's figure.

''Ende muon........!

　Ney stands up, his fist becoming crystalline armed like a gauntlet. Oh, he's going to hit me. This.
　I'm sure that from Nay's point of view, he's nothing more than the man who seduced his beloved master and took him away.

Well, wait a minute, Nay!　I will not allow you to hit Endemuon!
But, Master Mel...!　That doesn't put my mind at ease!
Well, well, well, slow down. Meh, I know Mel is saying this, so...
You don't say that!

　Nay, who is about to hit Ende, is feathered from behind by Mel.
　 When I glanced at Lise beside me, she had a blank expression, as if she had no interest in it.
　Whether Ende is hit or not, I don't really care about that either.
　But we can't go on like this.

"Take a swing at me, Ende. "Take a swing at me, Ende, and then we'll talk.
What!　Think of it as someone else's business...!
If it's not instantaneous, I'll have you back on your feet. You got that right, Nay.
Well I'm not happy, but I'll shelve it for now.
You can't kill me?
I know that much. As a pain in the ass, it would hurt Master Mel if I killed him.

　I'm sorry to say that this is the quickest way for Mel to dawdle between the two of us. If we're still in a rut, we won't be able to talk calmly. Ende may have a point, but I ignore it for now.
　A minute later, a thirsty sound rang out in the gardens of Babylon, and Ende flew high into the night sky in the air.
　Oh ... it's flying.




''So what happened?
'What's going on, nothing. In the meantime, Mel is trying to convince Ney to come back, but Ney hasn't given up on bringing Mel back yet. That's going to take a while, yah.

　Hilda asked me that, and I was struggling to stifle a yawn. They've been talking to each other all night. And they go round and round on the same conversation.... It's like a waterboarding argument?
　Frazeez probably doesn't sleep.... And if they do, it's only in a dormant state, a long sleep, like a bear hibernating. The first time we encountered Fraise, she was in a state of suspended animation.
　........Perhaps, if you block the magic power of the atmosphere with 【Prison】 and take away all the remaining magic power with absorption magic, the three of them will enter a state of dormancy.
　Well, if I did that, Ende wouldn't allow me to do so. It's hypothetical, and let's not create an unnecessary spark.
　I chase away the extraneous thoughts that pop into my head and drink the tea in front of me to wake up sleepy.
　It's already past breakfast time and everyone seems to be out on their own. Hilda was the only one left on the terrace.

'The Frays have cost the people of Restia their lives. It's a bit complicated for me...''

　Well, I understand that it's not something you can divide up so easily. I'm talking about how quickly you can get along with someone who was killing each other.
　Even if you know in your head that it's better to get along with them, it's difficult to do so with your emotions.

'Speaking of which, what was Hilda doing?'
Oh, I'm just checking out a book I borrowed from Miss Lindsay.
Did you borrow this book from Linse?

　Recalling yesterday's incident with the rose writer, I turn my attention to the title of that book on the table, which I'm anxious to read. As I recall, that's a romance novel with a female protagonist, which is said to be popular among students at Lord Mare. It's a pure love story and a 'normal' romance...I think.

Interesting?
'I haven't read many of these stories, so they're fresh and interesting. I've read a lot of heroic tales where a knight slays a dragon and rescues a princess.

　Hilda replies while frowning a little.

''I'm ashamed to say, I used to admire those stories quite a bit.
Being rescued by a princess?
No, it's the knight who's going to help me.
Oh, you're...

　You're making a mistake, Lestia Knight Kingdom.

But when I first met Fuyao-sama, I understood how the princess was being rescued. Just when she was about to be killed, Fuyao-sama appeared in a gallant manner. I was mesmerized by the sight of her cutting down Frazeez and the others in front of me.

　Oh, well, I remember the first time I met Hilda was when I was attacked by Fraise.

''After that, I looked up Fuyao-sama to the point that even my brother was taken aback by it. Every time I heard about the slaying of the Black Dragon, the suppression of the rebellion of the Empire, and so on, I got nervous....... It didn't take long for me to want to see him again.

　Nuh-uh. It's a bit embarrassing. I wonder if this kind of straightness in this child is a knight's nature. Her brother, King Reinhardt, is also like that.
　In order to disguise my embarrassment, I utter a slightly ludicrous line.

I'm not sure if we would have ever met if it weren't for Fraise. For that, I have Freyze to thank.
'Yes. It may be inappropriate, though.

　Then Hilda gave a small smile.

'So when I read books like this now, I can understand the feelings of the main character's girl. I'm sure you'll be able to see the sadness of not being able to meet her, the frustration of not being able to communicate, and the joy of the other person for the little things they do. That's why I can't help but read them all the time.

　I see. It's a little embarrassing that the subject is me, but I understand what Hilda is trying to say.
　I wanted to make Hilda happy, so I said the first thing that came to mind.

Then why don't we watch a movie or something like that together now?
'Aiga'?　Wow, it's been a while!

　Hilda clapped her hands and squealed with joy. Sometimes we would watch movies together, but after all, they were stories from other worlds, so depending on the story, it would be hard to explain each one to everyone. So it was usually an easy to understand action or fantasy or simple comedy. I've never seen a romance movie before.
　Control your phone and open the downloadable app. By the way, the electronic money is a gift from God, or maybe it's God's gift, because I had a balance of a great amount of money, so it's not a problem. ........I didn't drop any pornographic movies or anything like that?　
　
　It's a romantic movie about an ordinary bookstore owner and a Hollywood star who meet and fall in love. I've only seen it on TV before, but I remember it being quite interesting.
　We close the curtains in the living room and project the screen onto the space in front of us on the sofa.
　The movie starts. It's dubbed in Japanese, but for some reason it sounds normal to people here Well, I was already able to talk to them when I came over here, so I guess it's a god's specification.
　Beside me, who was worrying about such details, Hilda was engrossed in the movie. I'll focus on it too.
　It was a little embarrassing with the love scenes and such, but overall, Hilda was pleased with the movie, so I'll let it go.
　Just as I finished watching the movie, I got a call from the doctor. It seems that he's completed that thing. It's a communication system that connects to the underworld... or is it? With this system, we can get information about the underworld while we are here.
　The other day, an Elka engineer came up with a plan to strengthen Golem.
　As it is now, it's hard for the Golems to compete with the mutants. It's not as big as the frame gear.
　So they came up with something like a rather large power suit for Golem to wear.
　A similar one was in the trailer for a new movie I saw the other day. It was a popular movie where all the American comics heroes got together to fight. I guess you could fight mutants in that thing. If it's really possible.
　Well, let's go for it anyway. I've moved on to Babylon.