“It feels like I’ve been taking a long nap,” Lien said casually.

There was nothing odd about her expression or tone. She looked just the same, except her body had grown over the three years.

Even when I focused my magic to check, everything seemed perfectly fine. So this should be a relief.

It looked like Lien’s madness had been completely cured.

“But the moment I saw your face, my mind suddenly cleared, and my eyes just popped open!”

Honestly, if I said I wasn’t bewildered by the sudden situation, it would be a lie. But the circumstances were incredibly ideal.

Surely, I couldn’t imagine myself having to fight to the death with a crazed Lien for days on end. Or facing a scenario where her corruption restarted, making her fully turn into a Demon King.

So just seeing my precious companion and having her regain her sanity was like a super happy ending.

It felt like we should hold a feast to celebrate such a joyous occasion. It truly warranted that level of festivity, but…

I heard her muttering next to me. Given the already abnormal specs of her body, now even more enhanced, missing anything she said would be impossible.

“Just seeing your face brings back the consciousness I thought was lost—this must be fate!”

With a grin, Lien said this.

“I came by every single day, showed you my face, even cried and shouted your name,” I retorted, my annoyance creeping in.

To this, a voice tinged with gloom murmured back.

“Maybe you didn’t want to hurt yourself, and that’s why you kept my consciousness at bay! My desire to protect my precious father revived me!”

“Oh, so I can stab you to my heart’s content then? I acted tough and told the crew I wasn’t hurting at all, but I was genuinely in pain! Your old man wrapped himself in a blanket at midnight and cried like a baby!”

With all this overlapping chatter, my face became quite awkward. Seeing this, Lien seemed to want to break the ice and threw out a joke.

“Maybe I should have stayed unconscious a little longer? Then you could have held my hand and called for me. Hehe.”

But that just backfired.

Now the priest was practically sobbing.

I had brought you your favorite childhood doll! I searched through a town turned to ruins for a whole month thanks to the Empire’s army!

Not only did I hold your hand and call your name, but I was ready to hug you with the intention of breaking my bones in the process while calling you by your childhood nickname!

Yet all that effort is worth less than just a glimpse from the boy you like…

The same story echoed in my ears.

If left alone, I could see that voice, which teetered on the edge of tears, about to burst into full-on sobs.

“Lien must really cherish her father. She fought against her instincts to protect the life of her precious father.”

“…Yeah, that’s definitely true.”

To maintain his dignity, I tried to comfort him.

“Seems I’m not quite as precious as someone who can fully restore your consciousness just by seeing their face.”

It seemed my effort didn’t quite hit the mark.

Now he looked as if he didn’t have any strength left to hide his hurt feelings.

I gave Lien a light tap on the back and discreetly pointed at the priest. Even being dense, she couldn’t possibly miss that.

She suddenly realized the situation, and quickly walked over to the priest.

If she had no talent for acting, it felt like she was reading from a textbook. There was an awkward tone of gratitude and love.

The priest wasn’t one I had recruited, but he was responsible for educating and managing the citizens’ revolutionary army that I had somehow acquired.

He’d surely catch on to any lies; it could even backfire. I looked at him with worried eyes while thinking that.

“Ahem…”

From his expression, it seemed like it was going over well.

With every word she spoke, his mouth twitched, and all hurt feelings seemed to melt away transparently.

…Well, thinking about it, perhaps this was only natural.

“So, you’re sure you’re not hurt anywhere?”

“Yep! I checked while washing up when I visited the village, so I’m positive! But what about you, Dad…?”

“Let that worry go. As long as you’re okay, I’m good.”

After waiting a lifetime to reunite with my daughter, if I wasn’t on cloud nine, that would be the real abnormality.

The priest was grinning, looking at Lien with eyes that seemed to drip honey.

Seeing the priest’s expression made Lien feel so overwhelmed that tears welled up in her eyes. Her father embraced her tightly.

To let her feel that warm embrace.

And to hide his own tears, too.

I couldn’t help but smile contentedly as I watched this scene unfold.

Despite the scary situation that Lien had gone berserk during my absence, the most troublesome problem had resolved itself smoothly, ending in a happy ending.

It couldn’t have started better.

Surely, everything was going to unfold seamlessly from here on out. It had to!

‘Hmm…?’

But why did I have this feeling that something was going to go wrong again?

Was the old artifact, the whispering earrings, acting up again? That thought briefly crossed my mind.

‘Wait. That wasn’t junk; it was real!’

If I retraced the situation step by step, those earrings had never once given wrong advice.

It was just that there had been a big misunderstanding, but the feelings conveyed by the earrings were always spot on.

Something about the situation seemed off.

Just as if to affirm this, a familiar notification sound echoed.

Hearing it signaled a magical communication from Rubia.

And sure enough, the moment I received it, I was greeted by her urgent voice.

“[C-Crisis!]”

I immediately summoned the Holy Sword. Seeing that, Lien and the priest quickly took out their weapons and went on high alert.

“Has the city been attacked or something?”

If the Emperor figured out I had resurrected, his first move would likely be a hostage strategy.

If he took advantage of my absence to capture all the members of the Black Fangs in Eden, that would make things quite troublesome.

I should have acted more prudently; I regretted that as I grit my teeth, but Rubia spoke again.

“[It’s not just that; maybe things are so serious it might be worse.]”

A problem quite as troublesome as an invasion from the Empire.

She swallowed before continuing to speak.

“[It seems news of your survival has spread to the upper echelons. I’m sorry, I should have calmly delivered the news to each of them and kept them from panicking.]”

She had covered her face and silenced her subordinates, but it seemed quite a few people had picked up on my return while strolling around the city.

Watching her scold herself for being greedy, I let out a sigh of relief.

‘Guess I was worried for nothing.’

It was only that the fact I planned to reveal soon had come out a tad earlier. It wasn’t that big of a deal, after all.

“[I know it’s a lot to ask, but… can you calm everyone down so they don’t go berserk?]”

Among those upper echelons, some would be in a position to hide their affiliation with the Black Fangs, and revealing my survival wouldn’t benefit anyone.

It wasn’t like we were in Eden, and a bunch of big shots gathering in a public place would complicate things.

Honestly, I understood Rubia‘s caution to avoid creating unnecessary troubles. But it did seem overly anxious.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll let Lucy know in advance.”

There was exactly the right cool-headed talent for this situation.

If it was her, she could calm down everyone who had lost their heads at my command. I told Rubia this.

“[That Lucy is currently out of her mind and charging straight toward you with her eyes rolled back.]”

I received a bizarre report.

That stoic and FM-like knight was rampaging towards me, breaking everything in her path.

I even heard that some of the crime organizations in the way and the Imperial Unit 31’s building had been smashed to bits.

It was an impossible situation to believe. Yet, I quickly regained my composure and formulated a plan.

“Then I should contact Siel. She’s a bit blunt, but she’s quite diligent with what she’s instructed to do, so I’m sure she’ll…”

“[That’s the biggest issue! This time, she left saying no one is allowed to even touch a finger on you, leaving behind the corpses of Empire soldiers to be used for dark magic!]”

Hearing that made my complexion turn pale.

What terrible things might happen if such people went berserk simultaneously? And how could I possibly calm down individuals like that?

Only now did I grasp the gravity of the situation.

But regret always comes when it’s too late to reverse things.

Just as I was about to hurry back to Eden, footsteps echoed. The sound of hundreds, thousands of footsteps, accompanied by an overwhelming amount of divine power.

It was painfully clear who was approaching. Sure enough, a familiar face came into view.

“Our Blessed Black Savior has been resurrected!!!”

Leading the charge was Pope Dominic, howling and weeping with joy, his face glowing as if he had indulged in some kind of drug.

…This was likely going to get quite complicated.