Clank clank.

At the sight of the Republic, Deia’s mood soured for no reason as she looked outside the carriage.

The moment she saw the invitation, Deia knew that it would come to this. And now that it was actually happening, she could only sigh deeply.

An invitation to the banquet had also been sent to the Griffin Royal Family. And from the perspective of Griffin, they couldn't ignore this event, especially considering that the Clark Republic had lowered their heads first.

Therefore, they had no choice but to set off to attend the banquet.

"Don't hate it too much. The ones who live here are also humans."

"So, is that why you are active in the Resistance?"

"That… of course, is because there are more beasts than people here."

Then, beaming with a smile, Findenai shrugged and pointed out the window.

"Flowergarden? Are we going to stop there?"

"Uh, yeah. The horses are tired from crossing the mountain range, so I think we should rest here for a day."

"Hmm, that doesn’t seem like the best decision."

"Why?"

The signboard labeled 'Flowergarden' had a cheerful atmosphere as it welcomed the guests from Norseweden.

And the yellow flowers being cultivated in the distant vinyl greenhouse especially added a poetic ambiance to the village scenery.

"Ssspp, I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before."

Deia murmured, resting her chin on her hand.

Since the Clark Republic itself was quite secretive, Deia had seen many villages that were not marked on the map during their journey.

However, the name 'Flowergarden' still felt strangely familiar. It was like she had heard it somewhere before.

Surprisingly, it was Findenai who gave her the answer.

"Emily. It's the hometown of the girl who had become the Human-Bone Centipede in the basement of your mansion."

"Ah!"

Emily, the girl who loved flowers.

Because of the girl who said she liked the yellow flowers from her hometown, Deus Verdi would often leave flowers at her grave in the Norseweden Mountain Range.

"Indeed, it's a type of flower that a child would've liked."

"..."

Upon hearing that statement, Findenai remained silent and simply stared out the window.

After all, Deia would discover the truth sooner or later, so there was no need for Findenai to inform her about it in advance and incur her resentment.

As they approached the village, Deia noticed a thick layer of yellow pollen in the vicinity, which gave her a strange sense of unease.

"Cough! Cough! Khek! Khek!"

All of a sudden, the old coachman who was driving the carriage started coughing uncontrollably, gasping for breath.

"Ah, damn it."

With an incredulous expression, Findenai stepped out to bring the carriage to a stop and ushered the coachman inside.

Thanks to that, the other carriages behind them that were carrying the rest of the party were also forced to stop.

"Hack! Haaack!"

"What's happening?! Why is he behaving like that?"

Ignoring Deia's question, Findenai brought the coachman inside with haste, fetching water as his face swelled.

Only after the coachman's breathing began to stabilize did Findenai let out a sigh.

"Does he have bronchitis or something? We haven't even reached the vicinity; why are the symptoms already showing up?”

Findenai turned away in frustration. But when Deia demanded for an answer, she finally responded with a shrug.

"Flowergarden is the Republic's largest drug production site."

"What? Drugs?!"

"Yeah, all those flowers are used as raw materials for drugs. They're specially processed by the Republic, so they're pretty harmful to the human body even in their raw form."

Finding it ridiculous, Deia stared at the distant flower field before quickly turning her head.

"Then what about Emily?"

"You heard her thoughts, right? She said her parents never allowed her to touch the yellow flowers."

"Ah..."

That was why Emily admired and loved yellow flowers; she had never even touched them once.

"You can think of that village as a kind of colony. They have special laws that apply only to them."

For example, a law that prohibited dating until the age of 20.

"Dating?"

The clause did feel somewhat random, but Findenai shrugged and explained the truth behind it.

"Roughly, if you spend around 20 years in there, you'll develop enough antibodies, right? They want only those people to reproduce."

"..."

"That's the only way they can keep the cycle going. Don't even think of giving birth to children who won't survive. Something like that."

"Crazy bastards."

Seeing Deia’s reaction, Findenai could only agree in silence. It was at that moment that Deia understood why the people who had escaped from Flowergarden tried crossing the Norseweden Mountain Range.

At that moment, two people wearing masks with purification filters that covered their entire face appeared at the carriage window. .

They were carrying rifles on their shoulders, but they knocked at the carriage and approached them in a friendly manner.

"Are you the guests from the Griffin Kingdom?"

Were they informed about this?

Deia responded with a nod from inside the carriage.

"Yes, that's right. As for food supplies... we're good. We were planning to rest here briefly since it's already late."

There was no way that they could provide proper food in a place like this, so she let it pass.

"It’s impossible to enter the village. However, you can stay in the tents you set up outside."

It was normally out of the question to approach this place, however, considering that they were envoys, this was at least decent treatment they could provide.

"Also, if necessary, we can provide you with gas masks separately. Though we can't arrange a large quantity."

"Bring them quickly."

Deia hurriedly nodded. Before they left, the two people wearing gas masks glanced at Findenai, who was beside Deia, but then turned away and left as if they hadn't seen her.

Although she was a most-wanted criminal, she was currently a member of the party of envoys from the Griffin Kingdom, so she couldn't be arrested recklessly.

"Cover your face while you're out if possible."

"They can’t arrest me even if I blatantly show up here. Isn't it ridiculously satisfying to see something like this?"

Findenai chuckled, but replied that she understood and offered a piece of her own advice as well.

“Although we can’t stay out there for too long, it’s not like we are not allowed to step outside at all. So you don’t have to worry about this too much. They're wearing gas masks because they're not from the Flowergarden and need to stay close to this for a while.”

As Findenai stepped out, Deia followed suit after wiping the coachman's sweat with a towel.

"Ah."

It did feel somewhat stuffy and suffocating, but since they were far from the village, it wasn’t that big of a problem.

Perhaps because the coachman was old and his immunity seemed weak, it caused such a big reaction.

Aria Rias and Erica Bright also got off the carriage right behind them.

The two were accompanying them in case of unforeseen circumstances. However…

"Arrghhh! Can't I change carriages?! Professor keeps lecturing me! She keeps me asking if I want to be her assistant!"

"Ahem."

Given that it was only her and a student in the carriage, perhaps her instincts as a professor kicked in. Erica slightly turned her head in embarrassment, pretending not to hear that.

"Hm?"

"This...?"

Perhaps because the two were pretty sensitive; they immediately felt something was wrong with the air surrounding them and frowned.

From the back of the carriage they rode in, another two individuals emerged, descending from the largest and most luxurious carriage of the Verdi Household.

It was Darius Verdi and Deus Verdi.

"Deia, what's going on?"

It seemed like Darius had just woken up, so he was a beat late in responding. His hair was disheveled, and there was a hint of drool at the corner of his mouth.

Deia was about to say something upon seeing his condition. However…

"Sniff! Sniff! Sniff, sniff, sniff!"

"You crazy bastard!"

Watching Deus sniff as if inhaling something from the air, Deia immediately exploded in anger.

"Put that damn bastard inside the carriage immediately! Findenai, go get… what’s it called? A gas mask! We'll put it on that bastard!"

Detecting the components even in the fine pollen particles in the air, Deus started inhaling instinctively.

He was someone who was addicted to drugs and, despite being the second son of a Margrave, he knelt before the local thugs.

Even if Deus now regretted his past and wanted to repent, his addiction to drugs was a problem that he would not be able to overcome by sheer willpower alone.

As if he had lost his senses and was now going mad, Deus began inhaling the fine particles in the air instinctively.

"Huh! Just knock him out!"

"Little Brother, I'm sorry!"

With his eyes bloodshot, Deus started running towards Flowergarden. However, before he could get too far, Darius clenched his fist and landed a solid blow, knocking him unconscious.

Thud!

Deus then collapsed to the ground.

"Sigh."

Irritated by the situation, Deia complained that she was unable to hold herself back even though she didn’t want to swear at him.

Findenai hurriedly brought a gas mask while Erica prepared some type of magic.

Meanwhile, Aria was covering her eyes with both hands.

"...What the hell are you doing?"

In response to the reaction that seemed like something had gotten into her eyes, Aria responded with a bright smile.

"I don't want to ruin the image I have of Professor."

"..."

"Professor is invincible! Noble! Intelligent! Ingenious! Elegant! Cool! Kind! And fatally sexy! But because of this idiot, Professor's image is getting ruined, so I don't want to witness that."

"You are wildly generous with your evaluation, aren’t you?"

However, in another sense…

"It’s a pretty smart move."

Yes, it seemed she was a very smart kid.

"I wish I could close my eyes as well."

As Deia sighed, with Erica as the focal point, golden mana from her hands began spreading around.

Erica's magic began to clear the impurities from the air as it formed a circle.

"You even know spirit magic."

It was magic assisted by elementals. Thus, even without gas masks, it seemed unnecessary to worry about the impurities in the air.

"Still, go and put on the gas mask on him."

As Deia pointed at the fallen Deus, Findenai rushed to comply with her instruction.

***Thud!

I felt like something was shaking.

I wondered if it was just my imagination, but considering where I currently was, maybe something had happened to Deus’ body.

"So, how long are we going to stay here?"

The scenery around us was a lake this time.

However, instead of fishes swimming about, the clear, transparent water had stars.

Observing the night lake, it felt like I could see the reflection of the sky, and it was exactly like that.

In front of that, Stella and I were each holding a fishing rod without any actual purpose.

This was the perfect moment to say ‘fishing for time’1.

"Huh?"

Upon hearing my question, Stella, who was sitting right next to me, asked in bewilderment.

"D-did you not like it?"

"It is not that."

"Actually, I have wanted to try something like having a date while fishing."

"..."

Though I was somewhat speechless after hearing her say that, I forced myself to continue.

"It was nice. However, I do not feel like we should just be sitting still like this. I feel comforted and was able to take a break thanks to you, but now, it is time for me to return."

"Is that so?"

Stella looked at me with a hint of disappointment. I almost softened under her gaze for a moment, but I still needed to return.

As I slowly got up from my seat, Stella followed suit with a smile.

"I am sorry. I wanted to spend time with you even to the extent of being selfish."

"Huh?"

"See you next time."

Clunk!

As Stella waved goodbye, horns protruded from her forehead and her eyes turned into those of a demon.

“You enjoyed your time with Stella enough, right? It’s my turn now!"

"What are you talking about?"

I had told them that I needed to leave, so what was she talking about here? Still, Velica raised a finger to silence me.

"What am I talking about? Of course, I mean I can’t just let you go, you know."

Did she have to make such gestures with Stella’s body?

"What are you going to do after leaving this place? Are you planning to fight against Magan again? You’ll really die this time, you know?"

"...”

“Hey, if you die, do you know how many demons will flock over to devour Stella, me, or even you?”

It was crude, but what she said wasn't wrong. My life wasn't just my own anymore.

There were two women within me that I had to take care of.

"You lost Lemegeton, and your right arm had been cut off."

With my power drastically reduced, I would be defeated immediately if I fought against Magan again.

"You foolish bastard. Of course, that’s because, being a Necromancer, you left out your strongest card while fighting him.”

"My strongest… card?"

When I looked at her suspiciously, Velica pointed to herself confidently and shouted.

"To face a Demon Lord, don’t you think you need another Demon Lord of the same level?"

She grinned widely as she called herself a secret weapon.

"Don’t you have incredible talent? Stella keeps boasting about that all day long."

"..."

"The guardian of the boundary between the living and the dead. That’s exactly who the man standing right in front of me is! Gaaahhhh! It's going to be fun!"

Thud!

As Velica took a big jump, the surroundings began vibrating and started changing dramatically.

The lake disappeared, and the stars in the black sky vanished.

Only Velica's sinister eyes remained illuminated as she gazed at me through the pitch black darkness.

"So, Necromancer, can you handle me?"

1. Grand Duke Jiang (Jiang Ziya) often said this. It probably originated from the image of someone gazing at a tranquil lake, repeatedly contemplating and enjoying a leisurely life as they wish.