The crumbling town was in the midst of reconstruction work.
The residents of the country worked together to remove rubble and build temporary houses while taking care of the wounded.
When I set foot in such a town, I sat down beside a collapsed building that was originally a church and listened to the story.
It was about Earth and Sadiz.
“Heh~, you were training with Earth~”
The two had come to Cacretale.
No, to be precise, they were brought here. By ‘her’ hands.
They couldn’t escape because of the barrier, they had been held captive by ‘her’ the whole time… was what I thought at first, but from what I’m hearing, that didn’t seem to be the case.
Earth and Sadiz were “brought here”, but not “held captive”.
They lived with the people of this country and then…… a lot of things… seriously, all sorts…
“Yes, he lit a fire in our hearts… inspired us when we were hanging our heads in the midst of this unfortunate reality.”
What was Earth doing in this country? How did he spend his time? What did the people of this country think of him?
That’s what I learned from the Mortriage crew, who claim to be friends of Earth.
“Yeah, he’s a really great guy!”
“When we saw that Earth was working so hard, we thought we should do our best too.”
“Uh huh… when he won the tournament, we were so happy, as if we were the winners…”
These young men spoke proudly, as if they were bragging about their friends with straight, beaming eyes.
In addition……
“Un, Amae’s Older brother, so cool!”
“I see… you like Earth… you’re fond of your Older brother.”
“Un?!”
Even the cute little girl named Amae was puffing out her chest with pride.
As a parent, I’m proud that it’s all actually about Earth, but at the same time, I’m also frustrated at my own stupidity for not being there.
After leaving the Imperial City, out of our reach, he lived resiliently and strong, and in this way he has built new connections with his own power.
I wondered what would happen when I heard that Jamdi’el had taken Earth away, but things weren’t particularly bad here, but rather he worked hard with his friends and seemed to be adored by many people.
I didn’t think he would even have a little sister before I knew it.
I thought he was still just an immature kid that I, Mamu, and Sadiz had to watch over.
But in reality, neither Mamu nor I had been paying attention to him at all.
So we didn’t notice anything important, we didn’t know him, we didn’t understand him.
“Damn… what was I really doing… I….. and what’s going on with him right now? Hey? God.”
On the grounds of the church, where Earth had been staying for a while, I heard about what had happened to me from Earth’s friends, and with mixed feelings, I chuckled and muttered to the only statue in the church that remained intact, of the one they called “God”.
It’s a little “heaped up” there, but its face is definitely that of our former nemesis.
“Earth used your power and made a fuss about it… thanks to that, Earth got disappointed in us, rebelled against us, and then arrived at this place… haha… just what’s going on?”
Cacretale was not a member state of the Union, but a closed-door country with little information coming out.
However, during the war, there was no doubt to the suspicions that it was connected to the Demon King’s army, so they were kept under surveillance, but in the end, nothing related to Cacretale appeared on the stage even in the war. The war ended, and it was as if nothing had happened.
“What the hell is going on… the country was presided over by the High Priestess, who overthrew the regime more than a decade ago… her name is Jamdi’el… and….. the symbol of this was a goddess named Kron … a goddess of divine blood, and she’ll be the wife of Earth, the winner of a recent tournament…”
“What’s the matter, Earth’s dad?”
“Hmm? Ah, nothing…”
Tre’ainar. What the hell did your Demon Army do to Earth?
Jamdi’el. If you haven’t come out in the open in over a decade, what do you want to do with Earth now?
I don’t know how Earth was able to use Tre’ainar’s skills. The suspicion that Earth may have ties to the remnants of the Demon Army has not yet been cleared in the Imperial City.
But then this would be…
“So, they are now above the clouds in the sky?”
“Yes, along with everyone to rescue the abducted High Priestess.”
And now they’re raiding the Heavenly World… I mean, the Heavenly World really existed.
Well, I guess Jamdi’el was that kind of race.
But still, to rescue Jamdi’el by joining forces with human friends… or… no good. Damn, I can’t get my head straight.
And above all……
“Those people in the sky are cowardly… they attacked when the High Priestess was in tatters after she lost a fight with Earth… damn, I’m pissed off just thinking about it. Oraaa!!
“Earth was also exhausted, and there was nothing he could do about it…”
“But this time, Earth is in perfect condition, as well as Mr. Machio, the Goddess, Ms. Sadiz and the others. I’m sure they’ll save the High Priestess!”
Yes, that’s what I thought the most, “Seriously?”.
That Earth got into a fight with Jamdi’el and won… really?
Even if it has been more than ten years since the previous war, I know the strength of the Six Supremacy best of all.
We fought many times, was devastated, and lost many comrades.
Hakuki nearly killed me on many occasions.
Gouda was just so big in every way.
La’iphant had pride despite being an enemy.
Jamdi’el was terrifying and scary.
I don’t want to make Norja an enemy again.
I don’t even want to remember Paripi.
Although there are differences in power and fighting styles, all six of them were still strong and dangerous.
As far as we could tell from the Graduation Match, Earth was much stronger than Mamu and I could have imagined.
But, with the strength he had three months ago, he was still not strong enough to fight against the Six Supremacy.
And yet, he won? Even if he played some tricks, the Six Supremacy were not so naive that he could manage with just such measures.
In other words, Earth was currently strong enough to fight against the Six Supremacy.
“Earth… what happened to you…”
I can’t believe just how much I don’t understand about my beloved son… how many times have I called myself unworthy as a father…
“Un… what’s wrong?”
As I pounded on my head like that, Earth’s little sister peeked in on me.
I was so worried, even this kid saw it on my face.
“Oh, uncle… is worried about your Older brother… I’m anxious… what they’re doing up in the sky…”
“Older brother? Don’t worry about Older brother!”
“Huh?”
In any case, even if it was true that they were now in the Heavenly World, honestly, neither I nor Mamu could use flight magic, so at this point in time, there was no way to go there.
So, even if I knew where they were, we couldn’t rush to their aid right away, and I wondered what to do, but the girl named Amae, was excited…
“Older brother, he’s strong! Uncle is with them! There’s Big Sis too! Everyone is coming back! Older brother, we’ll play a lot when he comes back! He promised! Amae cheered him on a lot, so we would play a lot as a reward!”
She’s so confident… no, I was stunned by the words of the innocent child who believed so much in him.
Oh. I see…
“Haha, well… then I guess you’re right.”
“Un?!”
Yes…… I see… I don’t know or understand “the Current Earth” better than this kid…
“Older brother, because Amae cheers him on, he won the championship, so it’s okay! This, is proof!”
“Hmm? …… nuoh, th that is!”
“Older brother won this!”
Saying that, Amae toddled off and pulled something out of the rubble and pointed it at me with a giggle.
And I was shocked again when I saw it.
“Th, this is… th, the championship trophy or… Haha, you know right away who designed it, but… this is what Earth received as the championship trophy… I…”
If no one else had been here, I might have been sprawled out when I saw the trophy my son had won.
What a hateful thing.
A golden statue in the image of the Great Demon King Tre’ainar, with wings growing from his back, his left hand on his hip, his right leg resting on a square platform, his right index finger pointing toward the heavens, and a crown on his head…
“Hahaha … haha…”
I’m already laughing in dismay.
Hey? Tre’ainar. Are you watching this in hell?
If this is your revenge on me, there’s no better one.
“Hiro~, I’ve managed to calm things down here.”
“Oh? Right?”
“Yes… What’s that gaudy! …… T, Tre’ainar?”
“Haha… it’s like our dear son’s trophy, isn’t it?”
“Ha… Huh?”
At that moment, Mamu ran up to me as I was smiling at the Tre’ainar trophy.
Sure enough, Mamu seemed surprised by the Tre’ainar trophy as well.
“So, how was he? That young man, José?”
“Eh? Oh, yes. He has quite severely damaged the magic holes, nerves, and muscles all over his body. The side effects of the drugs have almost crippled him.”
“I see… then?”
“Yeah. I did some treatment on my part, and then I extracted the drug that was still in his body. But…”
“It’s difficult to cure completely… is it?”
“Maybe. From now on, with proper rest, he’ll be able to recover enough to go about his daily life, but… I don’t think he can be a mage or a warrior anymore…”
When we set foot in this country, and were feeling distressed at the sight of the devastation and the memories of the war, we found a young man being nursed by a group of girls.
The young man, who would be almost the same age as Earth, was in a rather dangerous condition.
“And that, too… I guess it’s Jamdi’el’s doing… damn her…”
Not only about Earth, the Mortriage crew also told me about the current Jamdi’el.
It seemed that the people of this country are so endeared to her that they want to risk their lives to help.
But on the other hand, behind the scenes, he was still a young man of the same age as Earth… in that case, I really can’t forgive her…
“Yes, and…”
“Huh?”
“The drug… I won’t know without analyzing it in detail, but… it looked a bit like what the worst demon of the Six Supremacy once tried to spread…”
“Paripi… well, let’s not talk about that guy… he’s already dead.”
“Well, that’s right. I get goosebumps just hearing the name. Anyway, that’s the worst kind of drug.”
I understand Mamu’s disgusted look just by remembering it.
And Jamdi’el had such a drug…
“…… Earth… they said he went to help Jamdi’el with the people of this country. He wasn’t brainwashed or threatened, it was at his own volition.”
“Yes, and with Sadiz. I’m sure there must be a reason…”
“Yeah… but…”
Jamdi’el was a dangerous person and currently one of the world’s highest bounty heads.
As soon as she is found, she is to be secured immediately. Dead or Alive.
No mercy is necessary. In fact, she was about to turn a young man with a future into a cripple.
No matter what the circumstances were, there was no way we could forgive her.
But neither Mamu nor I had an easy answer to what to do.
Because the more we listened, the more we realized that we don’t know anything.
We didn’t know anything about him, that’s why Earth was disappointed in us.